When the pandemic sent unemployment rates soaring last year, the government and lenders gave homeowners some breathing room by prohibiting foreclosures and offering forbearance programs that let homeowners skip or lower payments without penalty for up to 18 months. Some economists feared there would be a wave of forced sales or even foreclosures when the clock started to run out on those forbearances, but it appears other pandemic-era government aid helped homeowners weather the period better than expected, said Nicole Bachaud, an economist at Zillow. “It definitely worked,” Bachaud said of the forbearance and other forms of pandemic relief such as stimulus checks. “It kept people in their homes.” If there’s a downside to the apparent success of mortgage relief programs, it’s that there’s no end in sight for the low inventory and rapidly rising prices the housing market has seen in the pandemic era, Bachaud said. Have a question, comment, or story to share? You can reach Diccon at dhyatt@thebalance.com.
