While March home sales numbers were largely unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic, realtors in Kamloops are bracing for the worst in April.

Kamloops and District Real Estate Association President Wendy Runge says like everyone else, realtors are nervous about the future.

“Things are changing daily in our industry just as it is everywhere,” she said on NL Newsday. “You know, we are getting new information coming out and changing our strategies going forward. But we’re optimistic that we’ll ride out these next couple of months and then see how it goes from there.”

While the BC government says realtors are an essential service, Runge notes physical distancing requirements are causing them to turn to things like virtual tours and video conferences to stay connected with potential clients.

“Overall, as you see licensed realtors are doing their best to embrace and leverage new technology,” Runge added. “Using their social media and any digital tools that they can. It’s just going to be a shift in thinking, ‘okay, how can we think outside the box. What tools can we use?'”

That said, she is optimistic that realtors will ride out these next couple of months and assess how the situation is later in the year.

“It’s not business as usual by any means but yes there are people who need to buy and sell homes and unfortunately the timing is bad,” said Runge. “So we’re trying to balance that with being respectful of what’s happening and also following the guidelines of our government.”

The number of homes sold in March as well as prices were both up around 1 per cent compared to March 2019. The April stats will be available in early May.