The scatter plot above shows Census' Household Pulse Survey data for the 11th week since the pandemic. According to the Census, the survey is designed to deploy quickly and efficiently, collecting data on a range of ways in which people’s lives have been impacted by the pandemic. Data are disseminated in near real-time to inform federal and state response and recovery planning.
Data definition from the chart: Percent Households with Housing Insecurity measures percentage of adults who missed last month’s rent or mortgage payment, or who have slight or no confidence that their household can pay next month’s rent or mortgage on time. Percent Households with Job Insecurity measures percentage of adults who expect someone in their household to have a loss in employment income in the next 4 weeks.
Conclusion: The metropolitan areas on the upper right-hand side corner labelled “Bad Quadrant” are those that also show higher number of COVID-19 cases. On the employment side, how much of this data will July headline jobs report will capture? Also, there are other private and non-profit industry advocate groups that collect the similar housing data. But, in my view, the Pulse show better reality in the housing market, especially what’s upcoming.