The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching consequences globally, and those in the residential construction market are feeling the impact of the global health and economic crisis. Here is how the pandemic has affected residential construction so far in 2020 and what industry experts predict for the future.

Residential Construction Results

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that spending on residential construction projects dropped 4.5% in May alone. Lost jobs and rising unemployment or underemployment are hurting an industry that relies on homebuyers having the means and the willingness to purchase.

According to real estate site Redfin, the supply of new homes on the market fell 10.5% in the 12 mo...

Mortgage rates fell below 3% for the first time in history as the U.S. economy continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is where those rates stand today and how the current situation has impacted the mortgage industry.

Mortgage Rates Fall to Record Lows

As of July 16, Freddie Mac reports that the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to a record low of 2.98%, the lowest it’s been in nearly half a century. Only a week prior, that same rate was at 3.03%, and this drop marks the seventh rate reduction since March. At this time last year, the average 30-year fixed-rate was 3.81%, and it was 4.94% in November 2018.

Likewise, the average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage now sits ...

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen and spread economic turmoil across the U.S., the impact on the housing market has been dramatic. Millions of Americans continue to be out of work, and those figures could increase as the infection rate in many states keeps climbing.

The government has stepped in and placed a moratorium on foreclosures. What are those provisions, and what will this look like in the court system going forward?

Federal and State COVID-19 Mortgage Relief Programs

By July 1, there were more than 2.7 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., accounting for over 130,000 deaths. Federal and state governments stepped up in April to provide protection for homeowners and renter...

The CARES Act Leaves Mortgage Servicers Behind

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which President Trump signed into law on March 27, offers up to a 12-month reprieve to some homeowners. Borrowers with Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) or federally-backed mortga...

From a financial perspective, we're experiencing a perfect storm of catastrophic proportions. Most countries, including the U.S., are expecting a COVID-19-driven recession. Even though the government has taken some countermeasures to stimulate the economy, loss mitigation will almost certainly increase in every industry, but particularly in the mortgage sector.

Government Response to COVID-19

In response to difficulties faced by U.S. mortgage borrowers due to the coronavirus, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), including the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have provided increased access to existing forbearance programs for borrowe...

More People Working from Home

When states began issuing shelter-in-place orders back in March, an increasing number of workers found themselves pushed out of their offices and asked to work from home. Not surprisingly, this is a situation that many employees had desired for years.

According to Owl Labs, ab...

Aim For The Head

How do homes become zombies? The foreclosure process is a long and difficult one, as lenders and homeowners have to take several steps before a home is repossessed by a financial institution, including attempting a loan modification, mediating disputes, and of course resorting to the legal system.

As a result, there are approximately 1.5 million single-family homes and condos in the foreclosure process wi...

The Present: No Demand, But Also No Supply

Right now, the problem is less pricing than sales. There's little demand, as people stay home and take stock of the economy. Yet since there was already too little supply in many markets, and potential sellers have taken their homes off the market, the result has been an economic balance. This is cold comfort to the real estate ind...

Every recession is different, and the 2007-2008 Great Recession, driven by a collapse in home prices, was no exception. The current economic situation, though, is completely different, and the impact of COVID-19 on mortgage delinquency is a tricky thing to predict.

2008 Vs. 2020

First, consider what happened in 2008. Leading up to the crisis, there was such a demand for mortgage-backed securities that banks issued far riskier mortgages than they should have. Once those risks stopped paying off, the bills that came due couldn't be paid, and that cascaded throughout the system.

2020 is, essentially, large chunks of the economy simply stopping. While roughly a third of the workforce has the option...

In 2017, as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), state governments were allowed to designate certain low-income Census tracts, up to 25% of those tracts in the state, as “opportunity zones.” This allowed certain tax benefits, provided certain standards were met. The problem was that the plan, as passed, was very much a work in progress, and clarity hasn't arrived until relatively recently. So, how has that clarity affected investors?

The Rules

To get the tax benefits, investors have to set up what's called an Qualified Opportunity Fund, which must invest more than 90% of its assets into a Qualified Opportunity Zone Property. The property has to be “significantly” i...