COVID-19 Impact Update 6-2-2020

COVID-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of the local and global economy. This page was compiled of internal and external sources to provide insight about the pandemic as well as its impact on capital markets, rent collection, construction and architecture, operations, public policy, among other impacts.

Operations and Resident Support

Our campaign to engage both residents and our staff in fighting COVID-19 continues. Entitled ALL IN, the campaign has focused on helping residents access resources and stay safe, informed and connected. It is also geared at celebrating the great work of our staff in doing this. Here are some current examples:

ALL IN Hero of the Week | Employee/Resident Testimonials | Dominium Dose of ALL IN | Resident Resources

Rent Collections

Dominium Rent Collection Report: Through June 1, 2020 we have collected 32% of charges for the month.

Cumulative receipts are down (4%) compared to May through the 1st.
Cumulative receipts are flat compared to July 1st, 2019, the most recent month with the 1st falling on a Monday.

In terms of types of properties or receipts:

Resident receipts are at 37%, which is down (2%) compared to May through the 1st and up 6% compared to July 1, 2019.
Subsidy receipts are at 17%, which is down (11%) compared to May through the 1st and down (19%) compared to July 1, 2019.
Senior total receipts are 38%, which is down (4%) compared to May through the 1st and flat compared to July 1, 2019.
Family total receipts are 31%, which is down (4%) compared to May through the 1st and flat compared to July 1, 2019.

The chart below shows the distribution of properties on their collection performance in June through the 1st.

The lowest collection category is primarily made up of Section 8 properties which are impacted by timing with changes between resident and subsidy owed charges. The below distribution excludes these properties and follows the expected trends.

Previous Dominium Rent Reports can be found below.

Housing News

Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), proposed several priorities to be included in the potentially forthcoming COVID-19 relief bill, such as emergency assistance to keep LIHTC tenants in their homes, suspending “red tape” compliance for 12 months, expanding LIHTC incentives, among other items.

Yardi Matrix examines employment markets with durable jobs during the pandemic. They define durable jobs as those in government, finance, or professional and technical services. Their research found that cities with the highest percentage of durable jobs are those that have either a government capitol or state university or other knowledge-based institutions.

Phoenix home prices seem to be unaffected by COVID-19 with a year-over-year gain of 8.2%, far surpassing the national gain of 4.4%. Arizona has experienced lower unemployment than the national average, which may also be contributing to the boost in home sales.

Pandemic News

The US death toll has reached 100,000. The Washington Post created a graphic where each death is represented by a ray of light illuminating a map of the US. They note that the pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities in certain populations and that deaths are “disproportionately poor and black and Latino.”

The Washington Post interviewed three public health experts to discuss what activities will be safe this summer including going to the beach, traveling by plane, and visiting grandparents.

Eight hundred Minnesota registered voters were interviewed by the Star Tribune, MPR News, and KARE 11 about the government response to the pandemic. They found that 57% of Minnesotans feel like the restrictions put in place were about right.

The CDC’s tracker of confirmed cases of and deaths from COVID-19 across the US provides the most up to date information on the spread of the virus.

IHME’s COVID-19 Projections page shows trends and projections of deaths and hospital resource usage. The graph below shows their projection for daily infections and testing:

Economic & Employment News

JPMorgan compiled topics of conversations in their Zoom calls with clients on their Zoom Room report. Topics discussed range from inflation, to vaccines, and US spending, to US Federal debt, and whether lockdowns work. They have also compiled their Coronavirus (COVID-19) research on their website, which features podcasts, market impacts, an infection tracker, mortality rates, among other data.

SunTrust Commercial Real Estate sent their Interest Rate Derivatives Market Update. They highlight rising unemployment to 36.8 million unemployed and home sales dropping 4.33 million. News of Moderna’s potential vaccine also caused a spike in the markets.

CoStar commented on how the world of work may change due to the pandemic. They also highlight that the US economy is comprised of 50 smaller economies rather than one economy. They analyzed work from home data and the industries that are more likely to support that type of work. In doing so, they also examine which cities have higher percentage of workers able to work from home. Several major cities are able to accommodate working from home for office workers, including Seattle, San Jose, and Minneapolis among others.

Other Interesting & Helpful Resources

Mark Zuckerberg addressed Facebook about their plan for remote work. As most of the company is working remotely, they have noticed higher productivity but acknowledge the challenges of building culture and work life balance. The company is giving current employees the option to work wherever they choose, but salaries may be adjusted to reflect cost of living in their new locales. As Facebook plans to reopen their office to only 25% density, they are expanding their recruiting to include more remote workers focusing on those that live 1-4 hours from their current offices, those in Atlanta, Dallas, or Denver, with plans to expand to more remote areas in the future.

Disney announced plans for a phased reopening of Walt Disney World Resort and hotels as well as Disney Stores starting July 11th. The New York Times notes that the park’s reopening “carries a certain symbolism in itself” as Disney’s Main Street USA can be viewed as a symbol of Americana. Disney is still working out the details of reopening including the number of guests allowed into the park, but all visitors will have their temperatures checked and visitors will not be able to purchase tickets at the gates. Disney parks in California, France, Japan and Hong Kong will remain closed.

State-by-State Actions

Schools: Education Week
Reopening Status: The New York Times
Construction Limits: Architect Magazine

Resident Resources

Freddie Mac offers a Renter Helpline, which provides counseling for renters on budgeting, credit improvement and debt management. The attached flyer is available in multiple languages.

HUD has put together a guide and FAQ for Renters during the pandemic.

IRS Information on COVID-19 Checks
Dominium Resident Resources by property
Information on filing for unemployment

Communications

We hope that our friends and partners in affordable housing find this information helpful and will send information our way as well. A collection of previous updates can be found below.

Impact Updates