A shock is headed for the housing market
At the height of the pandemic, more than 7.2 million homeowners were in the mortgage forbearance program, which allows some borrowers to pause their payments. The economy has since posted one of the fastest recoveries in history. Now, just 1.7 million borrowers are enrolled in the forbearance program.
But soon it’ll be zero.
The Biden-Harris administration has made it clear it has no plans for another extension of the mortgage forbearance program, which is set to lapse on Sept. 30. Borrowers won’t all get removed at once, instead they’ll be phased out over a period of several months. (For details on the mortgage forbearance wind down, go here).
Nonetheless, as Fortune has previously reported, this is a major shake-up headed for the housing market. In a nation of more than 80 million homeowners, 1.7 million might not sound like a lot—until you consider there are just over 600,000 homes for sale right now on realtor.com. In fact, this year housing inventory hit a 40-year low. So, if even a small percentage of these 1.7 million struggling borrowers opt to sell—rather than returning to their monthly payments—it could cause a shock in the housing market.
Rest here…
No Comment