Which Housing Markets Are Most Vulnerable in Current Market Conditions?

The pandemic and its economic fallout have hurt the entire country, but some housing markets are more vulnerable than others due to at-risk industries and residents struggling with rent or mortgage payments. For builders, NAHB says the recovery should be V-shaped, but it may take manufacturers longer to recover because of how hard they have been hit through the pandemic. Additionally, based on the economic toll on certain areas and their cost of living, some states have higher percentages of high unemployment risk renters and homeowners. See how your state is coping with current market conditions. 

The analysis of the American Community Survey (ACS) suggests that renters and young adults under the age of 34 are likely to face higher prolonged unemployment risks as a result of the coronavirus pandemic hitting the labor market. The labor market risks are also uneven across states, with state economies heavily reliant on leisure, entertainment, retail and personal services being most vulnerable.

While recent job losses due to the coronavirus shutdown are astounding and widespread across industries, the expectations of how fast the return to normalcy will take are quite different for the hardest hit sectors. The recent economic indicators suggest that construction might go through a relatively fast V-shaped rebound once the shutdown orders are lifted. The destiny of hard-hit manufacturing is less clear. The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland developed a list of potential winners and losers and identified manufacturing as an “in-between” sector.

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