RESEARCH RELEASE: Systemic Racial Inequality and the COVID-19 Homeowner Crisis
Los Angeles (August 27, 2020) — The UCLA Luskin Center for Neighborhood Knowledge and Ong & Associates, in partnership with the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, are pleased to present this critical new research as part of a series of COVID-19 Research Initiative policy briefs documenting the systemic racial inequalities of the pandemic. This brief analyzes data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s weekly Household Pulse Survey, collected between April and July 2020, to examine the magnitude, pattern, and causes of this housing crisis. The authors find that about 5 million or 8% of American homeowners were unable to pay their mortgage on time. In comparison, during the Great Recession, there were approximately 3.8 million foreclosures and early stage delinquent mortgages (for 30 to 59 days) peaked at 3%. The current rising number of homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage is an ominous indication that this may lead to more foreclosures, housing instability, and homelessness.
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