“If you are looking to buy or rent now, there’s nowhere to hide from inflation when it comes to housing costs,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. While renters and homebuyers are both experiencing inflation in the cost of housing, the pandemic’s economic upheavals have hit renters much harder than homeowners overall, especially since homeowners with locked-in mortgage rates haven’t had to pay a penny more for their living space (as long as they’re not moving). Indeed, homeowners as a group have fared better than some economists had expected, with very few losing their homes to foreclosures or forced sales after forbearance protections expired this fall. Renters, on the other hand, were more likely to rely on government pandemic relief programs, many of which are now history. The prospect that some of those programs—such as the expanded child tax credit—would be renewed next year in President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better social spending bill was dealt a serious blow this weekend, after West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, whose vote was crucial for passage of the legislation, said he wouldn’t support it. Have a question, comment, or story to share? You can reach Diccon at dhyatt@thebalance.com.
