Understanding the profile of landlords is important because any policy pertaining to renters also impacts landlords and their ability to provide rental housing supply.
At the national level, housing affordability showed signs of improvement in July 2020 compared to a year ago but dipped compared to June.
Unadjusted new jobless claims totaled 857,148 in the week ending September 5, an increase of 20,140 (2.4%) from the previous week.
With these ultra-low mortgage rates, the real estate market is recovering faster than expected from the pandemic.
From the beginning of the lockdown in mid-March to the latest week, there have been nearly 58 million Americans who have been laid off.
The unemployment benefits that about 29 million people receive have provided a boost to household incomes, enabling them to stay afloat and pay their debt and bills.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.4% as 1.4 million more jobs were added in August. Total job additions from the low point during the lockdown are now over 10 million, but another 10 million jobs are needed to get us back to pre-pandemic conditions.
The unadjusted new jobless claims suggest that there was a slight change last week in the number of people applied for benefits.
Mortgage rates inched up this week to average 2.93% from 2.91% the prior week. However, mortgage rates remain near record lows below 3%.
The coronavirus pandemic period has shown that workers can work at home productively given the state of technology that enables workers to access their work files from anywhere, collaborate, and stay connected. This means that working from home or remotely is likely to become part of the workforce culture.
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