Also, while many homeowners sit on records amounts of home equity, they aren’t drawing from it much yet. A total of 307,180 home equity lines of credit were originated on residential properties in the fourth quarter of 2019, down 5.5% from a year earlier.

The signature look of stark, white, impeccably clean minimalist design may face declining appeal in home decor. Instead, comfort and usability will likely guide home design going forward, design experts predict in a new article at realtor.com®.

The era of sheltering in place during the COVID-19 outbreak has turned homes into security blankets, where comfort reigns, they say.

“Austere polished concrete floors, stone walls, all-white color palettes, and industrial finishes can be found in homes nationwide,” realtor.com® notes in its article. “Today, that vibe feels detached from the world that we’re living in, where a safe, comfortable space to hunker down is the true luxury.”

Designer Sheila Bridges says a trend toward “more is more” design likely will take root. “I believe that the trend has already begun to swung back toward maximalism; perhaps, ultimately, we land somewhere in between,” Bridges told realtor.com®.

Trends like wallpaper have already been re-emerging in recent years. Designers also recommend bringing out treasures from past travels and memories to display. Plush blankets and throws—always a favorite of home stagers—likely will be spotlighted in a bigger way going forward as they’re draped over furnishings. Further, colorful pillows and geometric patterned rugs can help liven up a space

“You can work wonders with lighting,” Susan Solliday, president of the Arizona North chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers, told realtor.com®. “Think about a fabulous hotel you have stayed in—or for that matter, an image of one. They are not cluttered with things, but they do have the right lighting. The amount and type of lighting directly affects your concentration, appetite, and mood. Lighting also creates depth, shadow, and accentuates the important.”

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a similar aesthetic shift became apparent, designers note. “People wanted to be at home with their loved ones, and it became more important for designers and homeowners to create homes that felt safe, secure, warm, and livable,” Bridges says. “Home offices or live/work/play spaces will continue to grow in importance.” Indeed, designers predict a wave of formalized home offices to gain popularity as the transition to remote working from home continues to play out.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Wednesday that it will award $40 million to help nonprofit organizations address fair housing violations across the U.S. and combat housing discrimination. The National Association of REALTORS® was quick to commend HUD’s action.

“HUD is committed to supporting efforts to rid discrimination from our society,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in a statement. “The grants we are awarding will enable our fair housing partner organizations to combat unlawful policies and behavior and foster practices that ensure everyone has access to safe, affordable housing, free from discrimination.”

More than $1 million is being awarded to locations that are designated as underserved by the qualified opportunity zone program. That program aims to stimulate long-term investments in low-income communities through tax breaks.

“Given the economic circumstances many Americans may face in the coming weeks, NAR commends HUD and Secretary Carson for taking steps to quickly put money in the hands of nonprofit organizations defending those who could face the brunt of this economic disruption,” Vince Malta, NAR’s 2020 president, said in a statement. “Emerging from challenging times stronger and more resolved will require countless Americans to step up and do what they can to help those in need, and we thank HUD for taking swift, decisive action to help us on that path.”

The grants are designed to help those who believe they’ve been a victim of housing discrimination and to increase fair housing education. The grants are being awarded through HUD’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program and Fair Housing Assistance Program. The funding will allow agencies to provide fair housing enforcement in the rental and sales markets, file fair housing complaints with HUD, and conduct investigations. The grants will also go to support education and outreach activities to educate the public, housing providers, and local governments about the rights and responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act.

Learn more about the available grants and view a breakdown of the amounts awarded to local organizations by state at HUD.gov.

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unveiled a payment deferral option for homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments, regardless of whether the reason is related to COVID-19. Homeowners could be eligible to defer two months of their mortgage payments until the end of their mortgage, depending on their circumstance.

The GSEs had intended to announce a payment deferral program later this year, but the agencies decided to roll out the program now due to the coronavirus outbreak. The payment deferral program is available to borrowers who have faced a short-term hardship that has caused them to miss one or two months of mortgage payments.

If borrowers resolve that hardship within those two months, they will be eligible to defer the two months of missed payments to the end of their loan, without having to modify their loan.

“This innovative relief solution addresses a unique hardship situation—homeowners who have resolved a short-term hardship,” Freddie Mac said in a statement about the new program. “It aims to serve those homeowners with a more affordable workout that’s between a repayment plan and a modification. This is a broad offering that is aligned with Fannie Mae … to assist more struggling homeowners.”

In recent days, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, also has announced forbearance options for up to 12 months and mortgage relief to those facing a hardship due to the coronavirus national emergency. The FHFA has also suspended all foreclosures and evictions for at least 60 days. The aid applies to homeowners who have a loan backed by Fannie or Freddie.

Lawmakers and the White House came to an agreement in the wee hours Wednesday morning on a nearly $2 trillion stimulus package intended to boost the economy and rush financial support to businesses and individuals during the COVID-19 outbreak. The package that leaders so far have agreed upon includes a direct, one-time payment of $1,200 to be sent to most adults. It also includes infusing $300 billion in relief toward small businesses, as well as a half-trillion-dollar fund to support companies that may be struggling from mass closures as the nation works to reduce the virus’ spread.

The package includes a provision that the National Association of REALTORS® advocacy team has strongly worked alongside Congress to achieve—an inclusion of unemployment aid that also would apply to independent contractors, a category that traditionally is not included in unemployment laws but one that many real estate professionals fall into.

Under the current proposal, employment insurance will be available to individuals who are furloughed, gig workers, and freelancers. Payments will be increased by $600 per week for four months on top of what states already provide for unemployment compensation. The amount of compensation will vary based upon what the self-employed individual has earned in the past.

A Senate vote is expected by midday Wednesday, followed by a House vote, and then the measure will need to go before the President for a final signature.

“At last we have a deal,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said at about 1 a.m. in Washington on Wednesday. This “will rush new resources onto the front lines of our nation’s health care fight. And it will inject trillions of dollars in cash into the economy as fast as possible to help American workers, families, small businesses, and industries make it through this disruption and emerge on the other side ready to soar.”

Under the current relief bill, small businesses could be eligible for a Small Business Administration 7(a) loan to use money to go toward mortgage interest, rents, utilities, and payroll costs. A portion of these loans would be forgivable, including payroll costs. NAR worked with the drafters of the legislation to ensure that independent contractors and commission-based income will be eligible for the loans as well as the forgiveness provision, according to NAR’s federal advocacy team. The bills provide a boost in funding to the SBA to help expedite these loans, require little in the way of up-front certification, and also give the administration the authority to temporarily bring additional lenders into the SBA loan program to increase the options for businesses, the advocacy team added.

The legislation also includes a delay in payment of employer payroll taxes. NAR’s advocacy team explains: “All of the payroll taxes of an employer and one-half of the self-employment taxes of a self-employed individual as well as one-half of the estimated taxes of the individual that arise between the effective date of the act and the end of 2020 would not be due to the Treasury Department until December 31, 2021 with the other half due by December 31, 2022, if passed.”

The bill also includes one-time payments of $1,200 to most American adults, which likely will be delivered by early April. It will be based on income reported on 2018 taxes. The amounts will decline based on how much individuals or married couples filing jointly earned (amounts will be gradually decreased beginning with individuals who earn $75,000 or married couples filing jointly who make $150,000). Households will also receive an additional $500 per child. However, individuals earning $99,000 or above and married couples earning $198,000 or more would receive no check.

“If we get this package, we’ll be setting the stage for a good rebound in the second half of the year,” said Larry Kudlow, the White House’s top economic adviser. “This package will undergird workers and families, Main Street, small businesses.”

This marks the third stimulus bill proposed by Congress to respond to the pandemic. Last week, Congress approved a package that mandated greater access to paid sick leave for workers. The legislation also created 100% refundable tax credits designed to provide an offset for small businesses and independent contractors to cover the cost of new paid sick and family leave benefits. Read more about it. Lawmakers have also approved measures to provide free COVID-19 testing and allocate money toward developing a vaccine.

NAR’s federal advocacy team has been working alongside Congress to advocate for real estate professionals on these bills. The association has a FAQ resource page on the latest developments to its advocacy efforts on behalf of real estate professionals as well as a page devoted to the latest developments on key legislation.

While REALTORS® are on the front lines of keeping housing alive and pushing for financial relief during the coronavirus crisis, some also are in the background, fighting against tall odds to deliver food, shelter, and health care to the most vulnerable citizens. Many past Good Neighbors—members recognized by the National Association of REALTORS® for extraordinary community service—have adapted their charities to meet the changing needs of their neighborhoods as the COVID-19 outbreak takes a turn for the worse in the U.S.

Stay-at-home orders in several states, as well as general social distancing guidelines and food shortages, are proving difficult for many charities to maneuver. But Kay Wilson-Bolton, a broker-associate at Century 21 Everest in Santa Paula, Calif., and a 2017 Good Neighbor, remains dedicated to serving the homeless—some of the most at-risk of contracting the virus—through her charity, SPIRIT of Santa Paula. Wilson-Bolton’s organization runs an emergency shelter and a food bank, and it feeds up to 800 people every week. “Critics suggest that [my staff] should stay home and that we should close the shelter,” she says. “Well, the shelter is home for the homeless, and two of my best staff people live there.”

Wilson-Bolton helps to distribute 30,000 pounds of food per month through her charity’s food bank. Last Wednesday, “our hardworking food pantry and food bank volunteers kept over 500 families—1,000-plus people—fed” and away from grocery stores, a potential danger zone for coronavirus because of hordes of shoppers, she says. Wilson-Bolton is safeguarding the shelter by taking people’s temperature before they enter, and she is hoping volunteers can reach more people by delivering meals.

Pam Harrison, a sales associate with RE/MAX Executive in Millersville, Md., and a 2016 Good Neighbor honorable mention, continues supporting the Anne Arundel County Food Bank during this time. The organization, which serves thousands of people a month, is asking for volunteers to order food online and have it shipped to the food bank directly. Since last week, the food bank has collected more than $6,000 in donations to purchase food for vulnerable families. “We have come upon more people in need of help with the closings of local businesses and as closures increase,” Harrison says. “We are also starting a mobile fundraiser in which people can text to donate.”

Sal Dimiceli, a 2017 Good Neighbor and founder of The Time Is Now to Help in Lake Geneva, Wis., says he’s more committed now than ever to the nonprofit he founded, which eases the suffering of people living in poverty. The organization responds to a variety of requests from the poor, including for food, housing, and transportation. For example, Dimiceli’s charity has been called on to provide food to children whose parents had to be quarantined at a local hospital for COVID-19. The charity is also delivering meals to children who normally would have received them at school.

These real estate pros acknowledge the challenges to their charities amid the current environment, and they are searching for ways to keep serving their causes. Jeremy Lichtenstein, a sales associate at RE/MAX Realty Services in Bethesda, Md., and a 2018 Good Neighbor, was told by his organization’s main food supplier that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it would not be able to fill this month’s food order for the charity. Lichtenstein, founder of Kids in Need Distributors, feeds more than 2,100 children in the Washington, D.C., area through his organization. With schools now closed, the needs are growing even greater to supply more food. “We found an alternative supplier to provide the food and a fellow nonprofit that could receive and store the order for volunteers to come take it and deliver the food,” Lichtenstein says.

Wilson-Bolton says that some food banks have had to close due to a shortage of supplies, causing more requests for aid to come to her organization. Her message to the public is to stop hoarding goods because, Wilson-Bolton says, it’s hurting charities. “I go to the same store every Tuesday to buy what I need in bulk for [my charity]—12 of this and 12 of that. The store has now limited me to two of everything. I explained why I was buying so much. But I had to drive 10 miles to a different store to get what I needed,” she says. Wilson-Bolton says her charity has been forced to order more supplies at one time than it can afford in order to stay adequately stocked. “Our finances are really taxed,” she adds.

Dale Taylor, a sales associate at RE/MAX 10 in New Lenox, Ill., and a 2019 Good Neighbor, serves South Suburban PADS, a homeless shelter just outside Chicago. Taylor says he’s proud of the way the volunteers and staff have quickly adjusted. SSPADS oversees many overnight homeless shelters in churches and houses of worship during the winter months. As these shelters close to keep crowds of people from congregating during the coronavirus outbreak, SSPADS is placing the homeless in hotels. Taylor says it’s a great strain on their finances. “We continue to work as a team to do the best we can to ensure services continue,” Taylor says.