This year, a great many things have been impacted by the pandemic: Company closures, setbacks, etc. The one thing that may actually be surviving well is the housing market. A news release put out by Down Payment Resource stated that 81% of homeownership programs have funds available for the eligible homebuyer. This organization assesses the market around the country and reports on the conditions it finds.
While they have noticed a small drop in those available programs, most of those dips turned out to be temporary and focused at the city and county levels. However, at the state level, these programs have remained open and have not needed to pause business during the pandemic. This has been contributed to a great deal of uncertainty about the world’s condition. This uncertainty does not seem to have affected the homebuyer market, though. Housing finance agencies have reported that they are doing as much or more business than they were at this time last year. The report recorded that, starting this past August, less than 2% of the DPAs had temporarily paused their programs due to the pandemic.
When analyzing the forbearance trends this year, DPA is reporting that the small increase at the beginning was just caution from consumers. Since then, they have slowed down and reports from the summer are showing an increase for the 8th week straight. The only dissenting comments are coming from CoreLogic, who states that delinquency rates are starting to rise.
The HPI reports an increase in the share of down payment and closing cost assistance programs. Upon analysis, all the numbers appear in the majority. The down payment or closing cost assistants’ programs come in at 78%. The only decrease they have recorded is in the first-time mortgages and the programs for Mortgage Credit Certificates (MCCs).
Overall, things are looking up for the market, at least by the numbers. However, you’ll still probably be facing some concerns from your clients around the volatile nature of the pandemic. This changing world is a scary place, but optimism remains.
Robert Raney is a geoscientist whose been writing and painting for years to get his creative fix in. While working on his thesis in theoretical planetary physics he was also creating fantastical worlds on paper for fun. He's an at home Texan Houstonite who currently works slinging drinks at a local LGBTQ+ bar in the gayborhood, when not fielding oil & gas jobs that have taken him around the world.
