The Washington Post, May 3, 2020: The housing market faces its next crisis as May rent and mortgages come due
Millions of homeowners and renters already are behind on payments in the economic collapse, and the jobless ranks are growing.
This crisis will stand out from the Great Recession a decade ago for its speed and reach, industry officials say. During the global financial crisis, the pain was focused largely on borrowers with shoddy mortgages or overvalued homes and unfolded over several years, housing experts say. This time, the pain will be felt more broadly, particularly among renters who are more likely to have the service sector and hospitality jobs most affected by the crisis. It potentially will take months, not years, to surpass the number of homeowners in distress there were a decade ago.
“The last foreclosure crisis was a slow-moving train; the impact in terms of people was over the course of several years,” said Jesse Van Tol, chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a research and advocacy coalition of 600 community organizations. “Whereas the current moment, it’s all happening pretty quickly, 25 million, 30 million unemployed in a manner of a few weeks.”
