【World Property Journal】Wealth Divide Highlighted by Coronavirus Housing Rebound in U.S.

According to Redfin, the impact of coronavirus shutdowns on homebuyer demand has been short and muted, but the economic recovery will disproportionately benefit those who were already economically advantaged. 

Since shutdowns began in mid-March 2020, tech and other white-collar workers with job security and access to cash and credit have been able to continue their home searches and take advantage of low mortgage interest rates. Struggling the most are those with low-income jobs in industries like service and hospitality--groups with a higher percentage of Blacks and other minorities--that had largely already been priced out of the housing market even before the economy stalled. Record unemployment for low-income jobs and a skyrocketing stock market only deepens the divide. Because of this inequality, the pain of the coronavirus recession is likely to be over relatively quickly for the economically privileged, even in areas where unemployment has soared.

"With record-low interest rates and relative job security in spite of the recession, higher-income homebuyers are already coming back into the housing market," said Redfin lead economist Taylor Marr. "Because of this quick bounce back in homebuying demand, this recession is playing out very differently than the Great Recession, and we're not seeing much impact on home prices so far."

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