COVID-19: Impact on Affordable Housing (Webcast Summary)

To support the multifamily community through the current COVID-19 crisis, we’ve launched a series of discussions centered around its impact on different aspects of the rental housing industry with the latest data, expert insights and actionable measures stakeholders can take to minimize fallout. Register for upcoming webcasts and watch previous episodes on demand at the COVID-19: Resource Center.  Following are highlights from the webcast, COVID-19: Impact on Affordable Housing, broadcast on April 16, hosted by RealPage’s Deputy Chief Economist/VP Jay Parsons and Affordable Industry Principal Greg Proctor with special guests Samuel Rotter, COO and CFO of MMS Group, and Larry Sisson, COO of TESCO Properties, Inc. LATEST ECONOMIC UPDATES Over the last four weeks, 22 million unemployment claims have been filed—shattering the record for job loss set in 1982, which barely reached 3 million. The detrimental impact on the economy has been most pronounced on hourly employees in the hospitality, travel and retail service sectors, who are typically lower-income and whose inability to pay rent has a direct destabilizing effect on Affordable Housing. On the market rate side, the deepest impact has been on Class C properties with lower-rent units. Our poll of webcast attendees shows that the issue most of you are concerned about, weighing in at 47.5%, is rent collection. The NMHC’s latest numbers for the market rate side of multifamily show that 84% of residents have paid rent as of the second week in April (up 15 percentage points from the prior week but down 7 percentage points YoY). The ongoing collection rate for Affordable is expected to skew lower than 84%. IMPACT OF CARES ACT ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING*  The CARES Act has significant implications for Affordable Housing. Stakeholders with properties that have federally backed loans or financing from FHA (Federal Housing Administration), Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae, and federall...