He said 93 per cent of revenue came from the corporation’s houses and condos, while the remaining 7 per cent was from rental and services.

SC Asset reported total assets of Bt47.035 billion and total debts of Bt29.142 billion.

SC Asset’s projects number 52 in total – eight condominiums and 44 “horizontal” developments of single units.

Attapol said that SC Asset’s online strategies for selling those horizontal projects had been successful.

In the second quarter, the corporation aims to finish work on six single-house developments and launch four new single-house projects.

Among the four new projects, Bangkok Boulevard Vibhavadi and Bangkok Boulevard Rama 5 will open for pre-sales on May 16 and 17 (Saturday and Sunday). Meanwhile, the Gentry Vibhavadi and Venue Flow Chaengwattana will begin taking pre-sale orders on May 23 and 24.

Over the past month, lenders have put in place higher credit-score and down payment requirements, and in some cases stopped issuing certain types of loans altogether, in effect shutting down a large swath of the mortgage market.

The triggers, industry executives say, include lenders becoming risk-averse during the coronavirus crisis, knock-on effects of Congress allowing millions of borrowers to delay their monthly payments, and policies implemented amid the pandemic by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The impact has been dramatic, with one model showing mortgage credit availability has plunged by more than 25% since the U.S. outbreak of the virus.

The tightened lending could add another headwind for the nation’s besieged economy by dampening home sales just as some states lift stay-at-home orders and the spring months herald the traditional buying season. Already, mortgage refinances are coming in at a much slower pace than analysts would expect, considering the rock-bottom borrowing rates.

In March, riskier borrowers “could get a mortgage but just pay a higher price than other people,” said Michael Neal, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute Housing Finance Policy Center. “Now, some people are just not going to get mortgages.”

JPMorgan Chase tightened its standards last month, requiring borrowers to have minimum credit scores of 700 and to make down payments of 20% of the home price on most mortgages, including refinances if the bank didn’t already manage the loan.

Wells Fargo increased its minimum credit score to 680 for government loans that it buys from smaller lenders before aggregating them into mortgage bonds.

The banks’ revised standards are far above the typical minimum score of 580 and down payment of 3.5% that borrowers need to qualify for home-buying programs supported by the federal government.

Wells Fargo is no longer letting borrowers refinance their mortgages while cashing out home equity, and both Wells and JPMorgan have suspended new home-equity lines of credit. Truist Financial Corp. has suspended some cash-out refinances for jumbo loans with high balances because of economic conditions, a spokesman said.

There are signs that banks are even trying to limit regular refinances. Wells Fargo on Thursday quoted a refinance rate of 4% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, more than half a percentage point higher than it quoted for the same loan if used to buy a home.

A Wells Fargo spokesman said the company believes its rates are within the range of what they see from other lenders. He said the company suspended home-equity lines of credit in light of uncertainty surrounding the economic recovery.

A JPMorgan spokeswoman said the bank’s changes are temporary and due to the unclear economic outlook.

Refinances surged in early March as homeowners utilized low rates to reduce their monthly payments. But refinance rate locks, a forward-looking measure of refinance activity, had plunged 80% from their peak by mid-April, according to Black Knight Inc., a mortgage information service. The company said that even the steep increase in unemployment in March and April couldn’t explain why refinance activity fell so dramatically.

Industry executives say the tighter underwriting is partly in response to policies put in place by Fannie and Freddie that make it expensive or risky to make certain kinds of mortgages. For instance, Fannie and Freddie said last month they would buy mortgages where the borrower had already entered forbearance. But the mortgage-finance companies excluded cash-out refinances. Mortgage Bankers Association Chief Economist Michael Fratantoni said that prompted many lenders to limit issuance of those products.

Fannie, Freddie and government agencies such as the Federal Housing Administration set standards for the mortgages they’re willing to back. For example, the FHA will insure loans where the borrower has a credit score of as low as 580 with a 3.5% down payment.

However, mortgage lenders sometimes set their own, stricter standards, even if they intend to sell the loans to Fannie or Freddie or have them insured by the FHA. Fannie and Freddie, which have been under the U.S. government’s control since the 2008 financial crisis, buy mortgages from lenders and package them into trillions of dollars of bonds with guarantees that protect investors against the risk of borrowers defaulting.

Mortgage credit availability has fallen 26% since the end of February, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a Thursday statement, citing an index of lending standards. Most of the pain has been for loans not supported by the government. Still, mortgages backstopped by Fannie, Freddie and federal agencies in April did have the toughest credit terms that such loans have had in more than five years.

Many lenders appear to have put restrictions in place in response to the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill that lawmakers passed in March. Under the new law, lenders must let borrowers with government-guaranteed mortgages delay as much as a year’s worth of payments if they were impacted by coronavirus.

Even though they eventually get reimbursed, mortgage servicers are required to advance the missed payments to bond investors. That makes lenders less eager to offer loans to borrowers who they think will need forbearance, such as consumers with low credit scores and those who can only afford minimal down payments.

The MBA’s Fratantoni said the credit crunch has been exacerbated by the reticence of federal regulators to establish a liquidity facility that would help servicers advance payments to bondholders. While Fratantoni said large servicers may not go under, they’re still protecting themselves by tightening mortgage requirements.

“I can’t imagine any lender wanting to be aggressive at all in this environment,” said Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi. “It’s how far deep into the bunker are you.”

The bid was revealed Wednesday during a court dispute between two sides of one of the U.K.’s wealthiest families, the Barclays. The hotel, which opened in London’s Mayfair in 1906, was sold for less than 800 million pounds in March.

Billionaire identical twins Frederick and David Barclay bought the hotel for 75 million pounds in 1995. The once-inseparable pair, who also own the Telegraph newspaper, have since handed control of their businesses to their children, who are now locked in a bitter family feud being publicly fought in the courts.

Frederick Barclay and his daughter Amanda are suing four of their relatives after Frederick discovered that his nephew Alistair had recorded his conversations with Amanda in the conservatory of the hotel. The two had been talking about “potential acquisitions and disposals of business assets” as well as the structure and financing of the group.

The recordings took place while both sides of the family conducted separate negotiations over the sale of the Ritz, one of the Barclay’s most valuable business.

Alistair, Aidan, Howard and Andrew Barclay, all from David’s side of the family, learned about Frederick’s conversations with Sidra, Frederick and Amanda’s lawyer, Hefin Rees, said in written submissions. The Saudi fund had made an initial offer of some 1.3 billion pounds for the property, he said.

Despite this, David’s side of the family, sold the hotel to another buyer from Qatar “at a price that appears to be for half the market price,” Rees said.

“One is left to speculate why,” Rees told the court.

A spokesperson for Ellerman Holdings Ltd., the holding company for the Barclay’s U.K. assets led by Aidan and Howard Barclay, declined to comment. A spokesman for Frederick and Amanda Barclay declined to comment during the hearing. Sidra didn’t immediately respond to a request to comment.

Filings show the new owner of the Ritz is Abdulhadi Mana Al-Hajri, a 40-year-old businessman and the brother-in-law of Qatar’s ruler. In addition to the Ritz, his real estate holdings include Turkey’s most expensive home and a $50 million Miami mansion, according to local media.

Frederick Barclay said previously in March that he had received competing offers in excess of 1 billion pounds and had threatened legal action if the hotel sold for less.

“He is a man who is now left to contemplate his nephews’ betrayal and a father who has witnessed the prejudicial treatment of his daughter by her cousins,” Rees told the court.

Thansettakij newspaper said there are more than 100,000 unsold units nationwide worth Bt300 billion, based on a selling price of Bt3 million per unit.

In a bid to attract buyers, these companies have launched several promotions. For instance, Major Development is allowing people to book their units via @MajorDevelopment Line account from April 15 for a special discount.

All Inspire Development is letting buyers pay just Bt22 for 24 months for their promoted condominiums, while Pruksa Real Estate is offering a 10-per-cent discount on certain projects. Meanwhile, the Plum condominiums near Rangsit University and Bangkok University’s Rangsit Campus is looking for buyers who want to rent out their new property to students.

Wanchak Buranasiri, Sansiri’s chief financial officer, said demand for Sansiri developments has not dropped, and thanks to the company’s successful campaigns, its first quarter sales for this year stood at Bt11 billion.

For the second quarter, Sansiri is running the “Sansiri pays up to 24 months” for specific projects nationwide.

Vichai Viratkapan, inspector at the Government Housing Bank’s real-estate information centre, however said that there were about 300,000 unsold housing units, including 69,000 that were ready to move in, 30,000 condominiums and 39,000 standalone residences.

“If Thailand’s situation improves quickly, then national trade should recover by mid-May as well as the property sector, which has been paralysed for the past month or two,” said Wasan Kiangsiri, president of the Housing Business Association.

He also explained that the months of April and May are considered low season for the property market due to numerous public holidays, hence promotions usually start from mid-May.

However, he said, obstacles like the LTV should be removed because it has severely affected the condominium business.

Also, Wasan said, the government should consider extending the “Baan Dee Mee Down” campaign until the end of the year. The scheme, running from December 11, 2019 to March 31, was launched to encourage the purchase of property.

Wasan said developers are also discussing other stimulus measures to propose to the government.

Piya Prayong, chair of Pruksa Real Estate’s board of directors, agreed that the “Baan Dee Mee Down” scheme should be extended to the end of the year, adding that buyers should also be granted discounts on ownership transfer and mortgage fees, as well as tax deductions.

He added that once the Covid-19 situation ends, the Immigration Bureau could also consider granting longer visas to foreigners, so they are motivated to purchase condos.

Also, he said, the price ceiling for residences for low-income people, as specified by the Board of Investment, should be increased to Bt1.5 million from Bt1.2 million.

The stocks of ANAN, AP, LH, ORI, PSH, and SIRI have slumped by between 24 and 42 per cent, while those of LPN, QH, SC, and SPALI by 4 to 15 per cent. Based on the turnover of the last four quarters, the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of the 10 stocks has dropped to 5:7 versus 7:4 in the previous year.

The decline in real-estate stocks began in 2018, when the government issued measures to control risks, such as its loan-to-value (LTV) measure. This year, these stocks are under added pressure from Covid-19, which is having an impact on consumers’ purchasing power and real-estate enterprises’ liquidity.

Samanun Polsomboonchok, securities analyst at Capital Nomura Securities, said that apart from the drop in buying power and LTV measures, fewer overseas transfers and a low number of foreign buyers are also pushing the slump.

“We expect net profit from the 10 stocks to drop by 22 per cent from the previous year, when they had profits totalling Bt33 billion,” he said.

“Currently, one in three real-estate sales come from foreigners, but the outbreak may cause the transfer of the existing backlog to be delayed or customers may pull out, resulting in higher risks,” he added. “Also, the financial statement for the first quarter will create more trouble.”

He added that the 10 real-estate companies have debentures, which are due for repayment this year worth a total of Bt69 billion.

“The interest-bearing debt to equity ratio [Net IBD/E] at the end of 2019 was approximately 1:1, while the rollover of debentures due for repayment this year is at risk,” he said.

“The second quarter will be intense for these stocks because 43 per cent of long-term debentures are due for repayment worth Bt23 billion, but we still believe that large companies will be able to maintain their business by using banks’ credit line or by raising funds.”

He expects the Net IBD/E this year to rise to 1.1 times, adding that real-estate stocks that have funding sources other than debentures and face low financial risks are AP, LPN, PSH, SIRI, and SPALI, while ANAN, LH, ORI, QH and SC are high risk because their funding sources are less than or equal to debentures.

“Among the stocks that have funding sources less or equal to debentures, LH, QH, and SC have the highest credit rating,” he said. “QH has enough banks’ credit line for most of its debentures. In the worst case, the company still has other securities, such as HMPRO and LHFG that have high liquidity, while SC is waiting for approval of Bt3.9 billion in loan from banks.”

He added that ANAN and ORI have the highest Net IBD/E at 1.4 times, as their income mainly comes from condominiums with a high proportion of foreign customers.

“In addition, small and medium-sized developers that have debt-to-equity [D/E] ratio of up to 2:8 or 2:9 must maintain the proportion with the bank at no more than 3 times,” he added.

“Small and medium-sized developers face worrisome liquidity risks, because their lack of cash may affect contractors, who can leave them to work for larger developers.”

Meanwhile, a stock analyst at Bualuang Securities said LPN is expected to make outstanding sales in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.

“LH has been able to maintain sales growth of 4 per cent from 2019. If you compare sales in the fourth quarter of 2019, companies with even better sales were SPALI and AP, while those that had weak sales both in the entire year and the last quarter of 2019 were ANAN and SC,” the analyst said.

“Investors usually buy these stocks for short-term speculation, which has resulted in them to drop sharply. Based on latest figures, we recommend investors to only speculate on companies that have outstanding short-term sales, such as LPN, LH, AP and SPALI.”

That man isn’t Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin or Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who are leading Washington’s effort to rescue the economy. Rather, the target of ire is Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria, a libertarian economist whose job is regulating mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

At issue is whether the U.S. should step in now to save non-bank mortgage servicers, firms including Quicken Loans, Freedom Mortgage and Mr Cooper Group Inc. that collect payments from borrowers and make sure investors in trillions of dollars of government-backed bonds get paid each month. With millions of homeowners predicted to start missing payments, the industry says it needs an immediate lifeline to head off servicer failures that could trigger nothing less than the collapse of the housing market.

Calabria argues that’s hyperbole. He’s refused to let government-controlled Fannie and Freddie provide support for servicers because he says there are more pressing uses of their limited capital to help bondholders and borrowers. His stance has made him a target of criticism for trade groups such as the Mortgage Bankers Association and some financial analysts.

“The president should fire Mark Calabria,” Chris Whalen, a New York-based bank analyst at Whalen Global Advisers, said in an interview. “He is taking a childish, naive approach right now that is bordering on negligence,” added Whalen, who says he’s been fielding phone calls from financial executives complaining about the FHFA leader.

Calabria counters that he’s not seen any data so far on borrower forbearance that indicates servicers need emergency government funds. For now, Treasury and Fed officials seem to agree because they’ve also declined to orchestrate a rescue.

“Nothing we are seeing as of today suggests that this is a systemic problem,” Calabria said in an interview. “What we are seeing suggests that for the next couple of months, this is sustainable.”

Calabria, who previously worked for Vice President Mike Pence, is a devoted small-government Republican with long-held opinions that Washington shouldn’t bail out every stumbling company or industry. A stark case in point: He’s repeatedly said that if it were up to him, Fannie and Freddie would have been allowed to fail during the 2008 financial crisis. The firms stand behind half of the nation’s $10 trillion residential mortgage market.

Whalen and other critics say Calabria is putting personal politics ahead of doing what’s necessary to get through the pandemic. A common gripe is that Calabria is obsessed with achieving a Trump administration goal of releasing Fannie and Freddie from the government’s grip, so he doesn’t want the companies to extend what little capital they have to prop up mortgage servicers.

Calabria disputes both points, saying his decisions aren’t being guided by his politics or mortgage-finance reform. Still, it seems inevitable that the virus will impact any plans the administration has to free Fannie and Freddie.

“Any steps that are taken now, there will be policy implications when we’re past this crisis,” said Chris Campbell, a former Treasury official under Mnuchin who is now at investment advisory firm Duffy and Phelps. “It certainly complicates and limits options available for reform that many people in the administration believe is necessary.”

To be sure, it’s not up to just Calabria whether mortgage servicers receive a bailout. That’s because the Fed and Treasury don’t need his sign-off to start a lending facility.

But Calabria’s outspokenness has made him the brunt of industry rebukes. The Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association, which lobbies on behalf of non-bank servicers and other lenders, blasted him in a news release last week after he said he hadn’t yet seen forbearance requests that were so alarming as to warrant a Fed rescue.

“The FHFA Director’s recent statements send a troubling message to borrowers, lenders, and the mortgage market,” MBA President Robert Broeksmit said in the April 7 statement. “Director Calabria should advocate for the creation of a liquidity facility at the Fed to ensure the stability of the housing finance market.”

The Fed is “watching carefully the situation with the mortgage servicers,” Chairman Powell said Thursday during a webcast hosted by the Brookings Institution. A Treasury spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Calabria does acknowledge that the outlook for some servicers is grim. That’s because as part of the $2 trillion stimulus bill that Congress passed in March, lawmakers mandated that borrowers be allowed to delay payments on government-backed mortgages for as long as a year.

When homeowners go into forbearance, servicers must still advance payments to mortgage-bond investors. They will eventually be reimbursed by federal agencies or by Fannie and Freddie, but can face cash crunches while waiting. The issue could be especially acute for non-bank servicers, which don’t have deposits or other sources of liquidity that banks do.

Roughly 1.69% of Fannie and Freddie borrowers have thus far requested forbearance, according to the MBA. Calabria said figures he’s seeing are consistent with that number.

Fannie and Freddie keep the mortgage market humming by buying loans from lenders and packaging them into securities that the companies guarantee. The housing collapse more than a decade ago prompted the government to take Fannie and Freddie over and eventually inject them with more than $187 billion of taxpayer funds. They’ve since returned to profitability.

Calabria has directed Fannie and Freddie to begin building up their capital buffers so they can endure losses, and thus survive as private companies. As a result, the companies have stopped sending their profits to the Treasury and instead started retaining earnings.

Fannie had $14.6 billion in capital at the end of 2019, while Freddie had $9.1 billion. Tapping those cushions wouldn’t alleviate all the problems facing servicers but it could help, according to industry analysts.

“Of course they need to step in now,” Jim Parrott, a former Obama administration official who is a consultant for mortgage companies, said of Fannie and Freddie. “If you’re not willing to allow the GSEs to step in when the private market flees and liquidly freezes, then why have government sponsored enterprises at all?”

Ginnie Mae announced last month that it would advance payments to bondholders to help servicers that handle mortgages made through programs offered by the Federal Housing Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Ginnie, which is part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, guarantees loans that are popular with first-time home buyers and lower-income borrowers.

A key reason the Fed and Treasury have held off on extending support to a wider group of servicers is that federal officials have discussed waiting to see how much Ginnie’s decision relieves mortgage-market stress, according to people familiar with the matter.

Former Fannie Chief Executive Officer Tim Mayopoulos said the cautious approach stems partly from the fact that non-bank lenders are so-called shadow banks that aren’t regulated by the Fed.

“There is a inherent reluctance on the part of regulators to extend their regulatory benefits to non-regulated institutions without all the other regulatory oversight that comes with that,” he said. “But I would be surprised if policymakers don’t eventually find some sensible solution to this because otherwise they are at risk of seeing all the other remarkable efforts they’ve made so far come to naught.”

Another reason servicers aren’t beloved in Washington: The companies spent years lobbying against tougher oversight and stricter capital requirements.

The hesitancy to rescue the industry may foreshadow future fights. For example, private mortgage insurers could rack up losses and come under stress as the pandemic persists. That threatens to make them ineligible to insure Fannie and Freddie loans. If that happens, Calabria would face another tough decision over whether to step in.

“The question is whether and how much the government will use Fannie and Freddie to be a source of support,” Former Freddie CEO Don Layton said. “That’s going to continue to be the case as this goes on.”

“For many years now, companies have been exploring remote work or work-from-home strategies to either minimise costs or cope with the changes of millennial behaviour during the Pre-Covid-19 period. At this time, almost every company … is being forced to undertake this new way of working without a choice,” said Roongrat Veeraparkkaroon, head of office advisory and transaction services at CBRE Thailand.

Companies are now experimenting with work-from-home policy and realising that it can work for certain business functions. This means that the post-Covid workplace will likely be more agile, combining a permanent office as well as work-from-home, and a co-working space.

The outbreak is acting as a catalyst, giving companies a clear view of whether new working policies they had already been considering actually work. Businesses are also in the process of identifying which platforms or infrastructure they are missing to support remote work, meaning tech services companies will be among the first beneficiaries after the storm has passed.

“Many organisations will be looking for satellite offices and cloud-based platforms as a business continuity plan [BCP] to ensure their businesses will not go dark if their headquarters can’t be accessed. Co-working space will be one of the best choices in this case as the company can rent space on demand only when needed. However, in the post-Covid-19 world, co-working space operators will need solid measures to satisfy users that their spaces are safe and well-prepared,” Roongrat said.

Showing workplace agility during the pandemic, some Bangkok-based organisations have been renting meeting or conference rooms in hotels for weeks, as their backup meeting spaces.

“Agile workplaces, where collaboration and engagement are encouraged, was already a hot topic in the pre-Covid-19 world,” added Roongrat. “Initially, the agile workplace might sound like a high-risk option for companies at this time; however, as the name suggests, the agile workplace or ‘activity-based work areas’ can be easily reconfigured to support social distancing strategies and split teams within offices. Paperless offices make this transition even more seamless.”

In the bigger picture, many office developments in Bangkok will be delayed as construction activities are halted or postponed amid the outbreak. It is also possible that development plans will be revised to make projects more appealing in the post-Covid-19 era ¬¬– with better property management systems, air filtration for the PM2.5 still lingering over Bangkok, or a well-thought-out BCP to support the tenants.

Agile and adaptive will be key words in the post-Covid office market, not only to increase efficiency of workplaces but also to prepare businesses for any unforeseen events and changes that could occur in the future.

“Our country has many world-class international schools. And if you know where to settle, our society is really safe. Thai people are also very friendly and helpful,” said Natchaanundh, the founder and chief executive officer of The Props.

She added that medical services, including dental care, in Thailand were very good and affordable. Thai food was great, and it was usually easy to find nannies and house maids here,” she continued.

Located at the luxurious Emporium Tower, her firm has dealt with A-list customers, mostly expats, in offering quality condominiums, serviced apartments, and houses for rental/sales.

Speaking from her more than 15 years of experiences in the industry, Natchaanundh says the Covid-19 crisis offers good investment opportunities for those who have cash in hand.

“The prices of property have come down. So, this is a good time to explore available choices and invest,” she pointed out.

According to her, some property projects have already made interesting offers. For example, if buyers make a deposit, they will receive interest on the payment made.

“If investors prefer to wait for the situation to improve, property prices will be going up,” Natchaanundh said. She pointed out that condo prices in Bangkok have been rising. Over a decade ago, a condo unit located on the Sukhumvit Road in the suburban zone, was priced at between Bt40,000 and Bt50,000 per square metre. But today, a square metre in the same zone could fetch over Bt100,000.

The Props has a total solution to property investors, as it specialises in finding a tenant, preparing contracts, and concluding transactions. Importantly, the firm has complete understanding of Thai property laws and related procedures.

“Even if our buyers are foreigners who can’t fly to Thailand to seal the deal, they can appoint The Props as their representative and we will handle everything for them,” the female executive said.

Natchaanundh said her team was highly professional and fluent in English. Therefore, customers could get complete information, there would be no language barrier.

“We also have insightful information to share because we have had extensive experience,” she said.

She said investors could make a profit by simply making a down payment on a property, then re-sell it, if the unit is situated in a good location.

“And, if you buy a property for investment purposes, you should place an announcement for both rent and sale. This way, you can get rental fees while looking for a buyer,” she said.

Being an expert in the field, Natchaanundh has offered advice to not only her customers but also via training to real-estate agents and property owners. “We have already conducted two training courses and there will be more because we want to upgrade the Thai property sector,” she quipped, “If you are interested, you can follow updates on our social-media page”.

When asked how to deal with the Covid-19 impacts, Natchaanundh said her firm has been looking for new opportunities and new target groups. “While Singaporeans, Europeans and Hong Kong residents are not investing in Thai property at this time, we still have customers from China,” she said, “Chinese investors are interested in buying a hotel or a whole floor of condominiums. And we are catering to their needs”.

As the coronavirus upends the real estate business, along with everything else, the country’s indefatigable buyers are taking some pause – but, so far, not much.

John Pasalis’ firm was getting ready to list a C$1.1 million home in Toronto’s trendy Leslieville district next week but was preempted by two “bully” offers – those made ahead of the official selling date. A deal was struck before the property ever hit the market.

“Some of those buyers are seeing the slowdown as a way to compete without too many people,” said Pasalis, president of Realosophy Realty.

Before the virus landed in Canada, its three biggest markets — Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver — were gearing up for a sizzling house-hunting season this spring. That outlook has now dimmed.

Home resales are expected to fall in the coming weeks as the economy contracts. Agencies are canceling open houses, and a traditionally face-to-face industry is using virtual tours to get some deals done.

An extended drop in Canada’s housing market would be a major blow to an economy already reeling from the meltdown in oil prices. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Bank of Canada and the country’s biggest commercial banks are pulling out all the stops to try and head off a serious recession.

The central bank has now cut interest rates a full percentage point to 0.75% in the past two weeks, spurring mortgage rates lower, and it may cut again. The banking regulator is loosening bank capital requirements to free up C$300 billion of lending capacity.

Meanwhile, Canada’s six biggest lenders, including Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal and Toronto-Dominion Bank, said they would consider six-month mortgage-payment deferrals for small businesses and individual borrowers impacted by the pandemic.

In the longer run, relentless demand means any pullback will likely be short-lived and prices should hold up, said Robert Hogue, senior economist at RBC.

“In all likelihood, this will be a temporary hit with a rebound taking place later this year once the covid-19 situation settles down – though the timing and magnitude of the rebound are highly uncertain at this point,” Hogue said in a research note this week.

Re/Max, one of the nation’s biggest brokerages, on Tuesday urged its 18,000 brokers across the country to cancel all open houses. In Vancouver, developers are closing sales centers and construction sites will be impacted as building activity is interrupted, according to Anne McMullin, president of the Urban Development Institute, an industry group.

But underpinning the market is the fastest pace population growth in 30 years, driven in large part by immigration, and the appeal of Canadian real estate to those with cash to deploy at uncertain times, including foreign buyers.

In Montreal, a New-York based buyer just made an offer on a property listed at more than C$2 million after a virtual visit, said Debby Doktorczyk, owner of Engel & Volkers Montreal, which counts 175 brokers.

Momentum helps. The housing market entered the spring selling season on a high, with sales across the country up 25% from February 2019. Toronto and Vancouver home resales surged about 44% from the same month a year ago, while Montreal’s were up about 23%.

The market was extremely strong – if not a bit “crazy” – before the pandemic, says Doktorczyck. Now, “instead of getting 15 offers for a property, we’re getting five,” she said, adding virtual visits are likely to become more common.

Even in Vancouver, which was only just emerging from its worst year in decades before the coronavirus, Royal LePage broker Adil Dinani says his shop is still doing 90% of the deals expected.

Dinani was up past midnight negotiating the sale of a C$2.3 million, six-bedroom home in an affluent suburb just outside Vancouver. The open house on Sunday had drawn 40 groups – some 85 eager buyers undeterred by the virus – who waited to enter one group at a time. The property drew seven offers, including the winner – an all-cash bid, almost C$150,000 above asking.

While open houses may be suspended, home buyers can still see homes by appointment, say agents. Meanwhile falling mortgage rates will act as a spur. Borrowers can now get a five-year variable mortgage at 2.1% and a three-year fixed at 1.99%, according to RateSpy.com.

“You know the saying – oxygen for any real estate market is low interest rates,” said Dinani at Royal LePage in Vancouver. “Well interest rates just got lower. There’s a lot more room to move in Canada. That prime rate can come down more, unlike the U.S. and other nations that are pretty much operating near zero.”