A report from King 5 in Washington. "If you lost your job, you might be asking yourself what good a deferral does if you owe a large lump sum at the end of it. When Kathy Martin lost her job, she wanted to have a plan in place in case she couldn't make her house payments. When Martin got the physical forbearance paperwork in the mail and read the fine print, she was shocked to realize she'd have to pay $15,000 in a balloon payment come October. She says trying to get help from her assigned agent was nearly impossible."

"'I thought, 'Wow, that's crazy,' so I called her back,' said Martin. 'I emailed. I emailed and called. I left the phone on hold for six hours. Nobody called me.'"

"'This is an interesting trickle effect in the mortgage market,' said Thomas Gilbert, finance and business economics professor at the University of Washington. 'The loans are not just owned by the bank. The loan is being sold to an investor, and it's being packaged and sold to a mortgage-backed security of some other investor.' That can make it difficult for mortgage companies to just change or re-create one's loan contract. However, that does not help the millions of Americans currently in forbearance."

"Martin says nothing changed for her – she's still on the hook for that massive payment in six months. She says she's now working three part-time jobs to make her mortgage payment for May. 'It makes me cry because I really just want to do the right thing,' said Martin. 'I don't want to ruin my credit. I just want to make sure that I'm doing the right thing and that we get through this.'"

From KPTV in Oregon. "For many people, the first of the month means paying their mortgage. And if you can’t pay right now, the federal government is letting you temporarily postpone payments, which is called forbearance. Julee Felsman, a mortgage originator with Guaranteed Rate, says plenty of clients she’s helped get mortgages are now reaching back out with questions. 'As all this came out, lots of my old clients reached out with questions about forbearance and what to do,' Felsman said."

"Forbearance doesn’t mean your payments are forgiven. Felsman says remember that mortgage lenders are a business like any other. 'Every mortgage someone takes out is actually an investment for someone else,' Felsman said. 'Speaking as someone who helps people get mortgages, I can tell you we look at payment history really, really closely as a part of that process,' Felsman said. 'When someone comes to me and says I want to get a mortgage, we'll want to verify the payment history on that mortgage, and it will be apparent that there was a period of time when payments weren't made.'"

From Money. "As the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on the economy and travel industry, Airbnb homeowners are starting to wonder if they’re going to be able to make their next mortgage payment. 'It’s a worrying time,' said CJ Hunt, an Airbnb host in Hampton Roads, Virginia. 'There will be a lot of shifts and some people that depend on Airbnb income may not make it.'"

"But Hunt has a plan. Despite having an onslaught of coronavirus-related cancellations through August, she slashed her prices up to 35% and put three properties she was preparing for Airbnb on hold to avoid further economic loss. But it still might not be enough."

"For those managing short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, who oftentimes juggle multiple mortgages and depend on supplemental income generated in high seasons like spring and summer, this could be a major blow, since some private lenders may require homeowners to make a lump-sum payment once the forbearance period is over."

"According to Carlos Garriga, Vice President of Research and Industry at the Federal Reserve branch of St. Louis, owners of Airbnbs in desirable coastal areas may be forced to sell their properties for less than market value should they not recover from the economic fallout of the coronavirus. 'There’s going to be a lot of correlated sales in certain areas, because there are desirable locations or vacation homes,' said Garriga. 'There could be a massive number of units sold in these areas.'"

"Austin Hankwitz, a Nashville native and financial analyst, believes that the outbreak has caused a housing bubble effect for Airbnb, which could potentially give millennials and younger homebuyers an opportunity to purchase a home at an affordable price sooner than they thought."

"'Airbnb is a fantastic tool for those who travel often, but unfortunately, that’s not happening right now,' said Hankwitz. 'This lack of travel and tourism is already causing Airbnb hosts to slash their prices by more than 80% in some cities. If this goes on for much longer, a lot of these cash-strapped hosts will be forced to sell their properties. This flood of new properties for sale might cause home prices to drop sharply in a short period of time. Add to this scenario baby boomers that are considering downsizing to pull equity out of their current homes to aid their retirement funds, and you have a recipe for disaster.'"

The Uptown Messenger in Louisiana. "We reached out to Robert Bergeron, President of Crescent Title here in New Orleans. Have you had a lot of transactions that fell apart in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak? 'I thought we’d see a lot more early on, but we are starting to see them. When that happens, I try to get on the phone with the buyer and calm them down. One concern is that you might be in default – and default has a lot of significance with penalties – 10% penalties, attorney’s fees, court costs, and more. At the end of the day, we’ll usually just try and talk to the seller and say, 'hey, why don’t we pause,' and then grant a two-week extension to the contract. It helps the buyer get their feet on the ground.'"

The Real Deal on New York. "First, it was asking for $50 million. Three years later, it was listed for $28 million. And now, the asking price for a Midtown East mansion at 29 Beekman Place has dropped to $11.45 million. The eight-story, 12,000-square-foot townhouse — previously owned by the sister of the late shah of Iran — has spent six years on the market. Now, Rosewood Realty’s Greg Corbin, Aaron Kline, Chaya Milworn, Branon Serota and Elliot Haft have now been hired to sell the property out of bankruptcy."

"The owner was listed as Wansdown Properties, which purchased the townhouse in 1980 for an undisclosed price, according to property records. 'Due to the nature of the bankruptcy and the desire to have an immediate sale, the property has been priced well below what any private owner would ask,' Corbin said in a statement."

From Berkeleyside in California. "Kristen von Bargen, a realtor with Highland Partners, was days away from closing a deal on a $1.7 million home in the Oakland hills when the March 16 stay-at-home order took effect. Her client pulled out last minute and lost his deposit — a steep $50,000. It’s been quiet on the market ever since. 'I think a lot of people are taking a watch and see attitude,' said von Bargen. 'I have several people who want to buy or sell, but they’re just hanging back. People are not willing to take risks right now.'"

"The housing market has shifted: buying and selling have gone virtual and pricing strategies have become more transparent. People expect a price drop to come, and some buyers — including high-earning millennials — may be stepping in to land a good deal."

"Kenneth Rosen, chairman of the Berkeley Haas Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics, expects to see a drop in market prices, at some point in the summer or fall. Eventually, he says the cost of a home could dip 5% to 10%. If you want to buy a home in Berkeley, there are certain advantages on your side now. 'It’s definitely a good time to buy,' Rosen said, explaining that interest rates are lower and mortgages are cheaper. 'If you have the financial resources to buy comfortably and you want to live in a house, you can probably get some price concessions, but you won’t have as much choice.'"

"Dolores Johnson, a local independent real estate agent predicts that the pandemic could usher in a buyer’s market. With fewer people looking to buy and homes still being put up for sale, the market could become less competitive. 'We’ve been a seller’s market for so long, at least 10 years now. This pandemic may lead us into a buyer’s market before the year is over,' Johnson said. 'Buyers are likely to get a sweet deal. Now they can ask for a whole lot of stuff. I want you to pay for my home warranty, I want you to pay for the inspections. They can include their demands.'