BuzzFeed News, June 4, 2020: There’s A Boom In Homebuying As Unemployment Soars
It’s a hard concept to reconcile as millions of people file for unemployment every week and protests and riots have erupted around the country after the death of George Floyd, but people are still buying houses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression — lots of houses, and more expensive than before.
Mortgage applications are up significantly over the same period last year, as is the average loan size, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The incongruously fast rebound of the housing market amid broad economic turmoil suggests that while home purchases are typically seen as an indicator of economic health, the numbers are becoming a more narrow bellwether for the state of America’s professional class.
“These are households that did not have the same kind of employment or income interruption as a lot of the population,” said Joel Kan, the MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “These folks are able to work remotely, who are still getting paid.”
