Eight months have passed since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic. Hundreds of millions of people have lived through lockdowns.
COVID-19 has upended everyone’s lives. People must adapt, hence remote work becomes favored in every possible industry. Remote work has completely reshaped the 9-to-5 work schedule and blurred the lines between home and office.
With the heightened remote working, African American renters benefit far more than other renters. This is according to a recent report published by Zillow, wherein it shows that among the almost 2 million American renters who are able to take advantage of remote working (working online), African American renters are 29% more likely than other renters in large metro areas to be able to buy their first home in a less expensive area.
The Zillow analysis is based on factors including income, the makeup of local industries, geography, and more.
A federal employee and Maryland renter recently made an offer on a home in Louisiana. She shared that working remotely has opened up more options for her family. They have made a life in Maryland, but with two small children being able to purchase a home back in Louisiana and be closer to her parents and their extended family is just what they need
She added, “With everything that has happened this year, it makes you stop and realize what is really important. And for us, that’s family. Without the ability to work online, we might not have been able to make this transition.”
Is the same applicable to all African American renters across the country? Sadly, no.
This opportunity is highly dependent on each specific market. In Baltimore, for example, it is more likely for African American households making $30,000 to $40,000 to have primary earners in health care administration and office work, such nature of work is highly “remotable”, while in Phoenix it is more common that someone in the same salary bracket would be in travel, hospitality and accommodation, or food service, which is not possible for remote working.
African American’s likelihood of working in more “remotable” industries combined with having relatively low income levels, pricing them out of where they currently live; make homeownership more broadly accessible for African American renters.
Despite this favorable opportunity for African American renters, the African American and Caucasian homeownership gap remains wide. Close to 75% of white households own their homes, while only 44% of African American are homeowners.
A large-scale solution for the homeownership gap between African American and Caucasians is to create options for affordable homeownership locally, without people having to move to a lesser expensive community just to afford a house.
For any housing mortgage-related payment issues, you can always count on Analytics Before Foreclosure to come up with favorable options for you and your family.
