Real estate market hot in the Valley

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The real estate market is buzzing in the Valley.

"I would describe it as hot and it's surprisingly hot. You would think with all that we've gone through that we'd be in the doldrums, maybe its people realizing the importance of a home," says Don Scordino.

Scordino is the president of the Fresno Association of Realtors. He's seeing renters buy and many upgrade.

The Artiaga family of Fresno just sold their house and are looking for another to buy.

"The interest rates are at an all-time low. I think it's the lowest we will ever see in our generation. So I figured it was probably the best time to go ahead and sell our house and get into our forever home," say Brigitte and Gilbert Artiaga.

Scordino says it's both a buyers and sellers market because of low inventory and interest rates.

"Inventory is low. That's been a problem we've had for 3-4 years now. We haven't had enough homes to sell to meet the demand. COVID added to the problem because some sellers thought they'd better hold their house off the market," Scordino says.

They've put practices into place during COVID-19 to keep people safe, including filling out forms, wearing masks and sanitizing.

Homes in the 300,000 are often being sold within ten days if priced right and picture-ready.

"I had a mobile home listed. It had multiple offers on a mobile home and that was crazy to me right there, but it was contingent upon them selling their home in Kerman. They had 24 offers on that over the weekend," says Scordino.

A majority of buyers are from the Valley.

Realtors believe this home-buying trend will continue until the end of the year if rates and affordability stick around. That could change depending on COVID-19.