Nearly 80% of those that purchased a home in 2020 are concerned about making their mortgage payment in the coming months due to the coronavirus, according to a Clever Real Estate survey.
"Recent homebuyers have had
"[This year's] homebuyers are more than twice as likely to report feelings of anxiety and stress than homebuyers who bought in the last five years, and they're less likely to report feelings of comfort, security, happiness and pride."
Only 56% of 2020 homebuyers are paying their mortgage in full each month, the survey found, which falls to 45% if one of the financial contributors to the payment has lost his or her job.
In an earlier survey of people who owned homes prior to April 28, 83.6% of borrowers said they were able to make their mortgage payments as usual.
The Biden administration once again extended the pause on student loan payments enacted to help borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic, this time through the end of August.
The two states' combined plans amount to over $1.5 billion of the Homeowner Assistance Fund included within the American Rescue Plan Act , which was passed a year ago.
An uptick in pandemic-related payment suspensions reflecting new or restarted plan activity previously occurred as the omicron variant spread, but activity has since subsided.
Among those 2020 homebuyers that are
But 18.5% of recent purchasers and 10.6% of average homeowners are behind on their mortgage and do not have an agreement with their lender, "suggesting that more recent buyers were less financially prepared for the pandemic," the survey report said.
While 58% of 2020 homebuyers were concerned about ending up underwater on their mortgage because of the pandemic, this particular fear was greater among those that bought prior to lock-down, according to the survey, which was conducted between May 31 and June 2.
Among pre-pandemic 2020 buyers, 63.7% were concerned about owing more money than their house was worth because of COVID-19. But just 53.2% of those that have purchased in recent weeks had a similar worry.
"The discrepancy between pre-pandemic and during-pandemic 2020 buyers is likely due to expectations: Those who purchased a home during the pandemic had expectations that the market was slowing down and may have purchased accordingly, whereas those who bought a home before March this year were under the impression that the housing market in the U.S. was going strong," said Clever.
So far home values have not depreciated tremendously. A recent Zillow survey of economists and real estate experts found respondents generally
