Homebuyers are putting off buying and homesellers are putting off selling, and it has gotten worse in the last two weeks, according to a new survey by the New Hampshire Association of Realtors.

But the rapidly deteriorating situation was not reflected fully in March sales data, which includes transactions before the economy was shut down due to the coronavirus.

Some 684 homebuyers and sellers responded to a Realtors’ survey on April 8, down from the 872 who answered an identically worded survey just two weeks after the governor issued his stay-at-home order closing all nonessential businesses (including real estate until the group lobbied for an exemption). But the response to both surveys was much greater than usual.

In the latest survey, 69.3% of buyers decided to delay looking for a property, compared to 63.4%, two weeks before, while 63.5% of sellers postponed bringing new listings to the market, compared to 51.4% two weeks before.

Indeed, nearly 16% of sellers removed their listing altogether, up from 11.7% previously. It was business as usual for only 13%, down from 22.3%.

— BOB SANDERS