How Does Weather Affect Real Estate Sales?

We had what was termed "the Blizzard of 2011" last week and it certainly halted real estate sales and almost all shopping, dining and entertainment. I don't know of any agents that showed houses last Wednesday, and I stayed home on Thursday, too.

But there were other consequences of the heavy snow storm. There were many closings that could not occur on Wednesday. Some sellers had moving trucks set-up that had to be changed. Some buyers had to stay put another day or so.

I had an Orland Park real estate closing last Monday and the sellers were supposed to be out on Wednesday but we all knew that wasn't going to happen. They were moving out of state and the moving truck broke down on Thursday so the move did not happen until Friday. I'm wondering how many sellers and buyers that depended on professional movers had to reschedule, and how many days they had to wait.

Our little "blizzard" is no comparison to some of the bad weather that has caused disaster areas because of hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, etc. Our snow storm just affected things for a day or two, maybe a little longer for some. I didn't hear anything about sellers having damaged roofs but I'm sure it probably happened to someone.

Our winter weather was truly a small blip on the radar compared to some of the ravages of areas like Florida, Louisiana, Texas, etc. I can't imagine how life, not just real estate, changed in those areas.