Brokers unfazed by Omicron variant

He said: “It seems like the same thing happened with Delta and the previous variant before that. I think we’re going to be dealing with variants for years to come now. It seems there will always be some sort of fear, but many people across the country have gotten vaccinated, and the treatment for the virus seems to be better than it was a year ago.”

He said the overall public mood was against shutting the country down again, and that the mortgage industry was sufficiently resilient to overcome a new wave. “If it didn’t shut down the housing market in 2020, it didn’t shut down the housing market in 2021. We’ve already kind of learned to live with it. Obviously, we’ll face our challenges, but I think we’ll be fine.”

Ben Schweitzer, co-founder of commercial real estate finance firm GPARENCY, which employs fewer than 100 people, expressed caution about vaccines and the new variant.

He said: “I don’t think there’s anything worse than a directive just coming down, especially if it’s not mandated without people feeling like they have a voice. COVID is here and it’s not going anywhere, and people are starting to accept that.”

Philadelphia-based broker Yury Shraibman expressed strong misgivings about a vaccine mandate back in August, adding that removing individual choice would be “extremely dangerous” from a civil rights perspective.