Buy a house during COVID-19? The housing market is a tale of two Americas and first-time buyers are struggling

ARTICLE FROM USA TODAY MONEY

After five years of carefully saving money for a down payment on their first home, Christine Rodriguez and her husband, Oscar, hoped to finally move out of their rented trailer in Des Moines, Iowa.

The pandemic made their need more urgent. While five of their six kids were studying online from home, the three-room dwelling started to feel untenable.

The children, ages 6 through 17, couldn’t even freely play outside.

“When you live in a trailer, your neighbors are so close,” says Christine, a waitress at a sports bar. “We have a yard, but it’s not too much. We just wanted them to be able to go out and just be kids, like, you know, screaming and yelling and just having fun playing and not bothering other people because we’re so close.”

HOME PRICES SOAR

These rates are typically for buyers who bring strong credit scores and large down payments to the table. First-time homebuyers face stricter lending requirements as lenders want to ensure that borrowers can still make their mortgage payments after a historic wave of layoffs.  

Mark Stark, CEO of Americana Holdings, which owns Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties, Arizona Properties and California Properties and has 3,500 agents in the three states, says he’s seen first-time buyers struggling to make successful offers.

“I have seen traditional buyers who are well-qualified being squeezed out. … They don’t have such additional cash to put down,” he says. “They also lose out when they’re going against a cash offer, which is simpler for the seller.”