The Housing Coalition sent a letter to Congressional Leadership from over 40 organizations across the housing industry that highlighted the need for Rental Assistance and articulated a set of agreed upon principles to guide lawmakers in their conversations going forward.

NMHC has a map outlining state and city essential businesses, stay-at-home orders, exempt housing construction, and which areas are allowing residential construction projects to continue.

HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing released an updated COVID-19 Questions and Answers Guidance. The vast majority of the questions concern the CARES Act. The document also provides and updated list of available additional resources and new guidance on asset management including updates to questions on Financing Requirements, Implementation of Forbearance Under the Cares Act and Moratorium on Evictions under the Cares Act.  

Novogradac’s working group wrote a letter to the Office of Chief Counsel of the IRS and the Office of Tax Policy at the US Department of Treasury requesting relief from various low-income housing tax credit requirements due to COVID-19. Twelve specific requests were made including extension of deadlines and moratorium on inspections and tenant file reviews, among other requests. 

Novogradac also continues to update resources for their clients with legislative updates and client services. 

CoStar discusses how brokers are changing tactics as the COVID-19 pandemic shakes the market. Development projects have halted and many sales are being put on hold. Looking at the markets in Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Denver, Seattle, CoStar interviewed brokers in each city most of whom are optimistic about the market and are using this time to prepare for the future.  

NCSHA wrote about Senator Reed introducing a $75 billion Housing Assistance Fund on May 6th that would provide resources to state housing finance agencies allowing them to be able to support homeowners and renters struggling due to the pandemic.

This Bloomberg article discusses the debate among economists and analysts over the future effects of COVID-19 on prices going forward. The debate focuses on if the pandemic-driven decrease in demand will cause deflation or if governments’ expansionary fiscal and monetary policy will cause inflation.

The NY Times reports that government figures show that job losses in April were the worst ever. But they could provide key hints about the recovery. This report also details the ways collecting employment data has been complicated by the pandemic.

Bloomberg reports many layoffs previously labeled “temporary” have been changed to “indefinite” or “permanent,” signaling a shift in companies’ expectations in terms of the time economic recovery will take.

SunTrust Bank provides a weekly Interest Rate Commentary prepared by their Financial Risk Management team. They note that FOMC left the target rate unchanged. Also, they note fears of a potential trade war between the US and China. 

Baker Tilly has a resource center that includes COVID-19 response and recovery resources for the construction and real estate industries. Featured articles focus on COVID-19 legislation, PPP loans, relief programs, tax summaries, and the CARES act.