Good morning! Today is Friday, May 8. Employment data due out today is expected to show 21 million coronavirus-created job losses in April. Businesses are struggling to lure many workers out of employment. A spring snow is in the forecast for the Northeast this weekend, as a polar vortex moves down from Canada.
And in mortgage and housing news …
CONSUMER COMPLAINTS: What are the most common mortgage-related complaints received by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? Where do they come from? What’s with a bank stealing a customer’s mailbox? Find out here.
CREDIT TIGHTENS: Economic difficulties caused by the coronavirus are making it harder for borrowers to obtain mortgage credit, even as interest rates have plunged to historic lows.
HOUSING GAMBLE: The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI), an indicator that measures how favorable it is at a given time to buy or sell a house, fell 17.8 points in April.
RENT RELIEF: Amid the coronavirus pandemic, renters in many states are protected by a temporary moratorium on evictions.
REAL ESTATE INVESTING: In making real estate investing decisions, a call to remember that the current slowdown is mainly due to extrinsic market factors rather than fundamental issues with the real estate economy.
WHO’S HOMEBUYING: Among older boomers, single female buyers comprised a large and growing share of homebuyers.
DISPARITIES: An NAACP report shows that one in four black households spend more than half of their income on housing as compared to 1 in 10 white households. An analysis of housing and wealth disparities in the wake of the coronavirus.
REFINANCING: Three signs that it’s time to refinance your mortgage.
GOOGLE SIDEWALKS LAB: The most ambitious project from Google’s urban-planning arm has been called off.
MLS DATA: Now is a great time to leverage MLS property data features and mapping capabilities that can help buyers and sellers while in-person experiences are limited—or off the table entirely.