Those who brave the market now could get some of the best deals in years, with near-record low mortgage rates, but the path is complicated by ever-changing guidance and all the minutiae that video calls fail to convey.

New York agents were banned in mid-March from showing apartments in person. That decision was seemingly reversed, but only to allow them to record virtual showings — a distinction without much difference, since most apartment buildings are refusing to admit nonresidents anyway.

Some lenders will accept “drive-by” or “desktop” appraisals that don’t require a physical inspection, but there is limited data on how far home values have fallen since the outbreak. The state is also permitting some forms of virtual notarization to prove that key documents were signed, but it remains unclear whether many banks will accept these standards.

Even the most pedestrian tasks have been transformed: How does a co-op board interview your dog over Skype? How do you read the room when the deal makers are talking heads on a screen?

Still, many of the changes made over the next several weeks could actually improve the antiquated buying process. These are some of the obstacles ahead.

Buying Now

In the first quarter, the median sale price in Manhattan was $1,060,000, down 7 percent from the same period in 2016, when the market peaked, but a surge in sales in the early part of the quarter suggested the market was turning a corner. With the arrival of the virus in March, all momentum stalled.

“Everybody’s been waiting for the other shoe to drop, and now it’s dropped,” said Lisa Lippman, an agent with Brown Harris Stevens, who expects the market below $2 million to suffer the most, because of surging unemployment and a steep drop in the stock markets that will make buyers reluctant to cash out.