This lockdown is helping some and hurting others. The awesome deli in my building in downtown Louisville is shut down permanently. This could have resulted in a foreclosure on the owner’s home.
Meanwhile, I had a 3 hour daily commute, but now work from home. This saves me, after taxes -—drum roll-— almost $800 a month. That is fairly good money anywhere in the country, but in an area where that is more than many house payments, it’s a windfall.
So, WFH people are getting out of the cities, while people outside of cities are either seeing their home foreclosed on because they don’t have a source of income, or they are seeing their property values skyrocket as the city folks migrate.
I would not be buying a house right now. The time to buy is when interest rates are high. It depresses prices, and gives you the opportunity to refinance later when interest rates come down again.
I dont know if well ever see high interest rates for a while. We are facing the same deflationary pressure you see in Japan and (to a lesser extent) Europe.