Housing is extremely expensive. I wonder how people pay rent, mortgage, and other expenses with so many layoffs.
Then, those working at Citigroup are likely to get some form of severance. While I do not know the exact composition of the layoffs I suspect that many of those are well paid and have comfortable cushion. Furthermore, US economy is still chugging along and the unemployment is low by historical standards, so a significant portion of those laid off will likely find another job. They can also downsize and/or move to an area with lower cost of living.
None of this is pleasant, but it is not the end of the world. My 2c.
> They can also downsize and/or move to an area with lower cost of living.
No, not really. There are simply no housing units available in the US to do that. All new housing is huge 2000sq/ft +. In addition housing prices are just off the charts for small houses. Your low cost of living places (I have family that lives in places like that) still want $250,000+ for a house that was around or under $100,000 less than a decade ago.
In addition if pressure demands that lower priced houses are in demand those costs will go up.
Lastly, hopefully you can remote work, or surviving on that $28 and hour in OH is going to be fun.
You realize that nearly 4 million homes are sold per month in the US, right?
That there are jobs doesn’t mean that there are jobs that align with everyone’s work experiences, familial ties, or various other obligations. If I get laid off in the bay as an ML engineer and have an elderly parent who lives there that I need to take care of, that there are jobs at Sherman Williams in Cleveland isn’t very useful to me. Similarly, if I’m mid-career and pursue work in LCOL area that cuts my pay in half relative to a larger city, that could derail my lifetime earnings and ability to retire.
Reality is more complicated than the simplistic narratives people use to victim blame or reinforce their just-world fantasies.
People don't need to speculate, or engage in some kind of weighing of Cleveland as a place someone might want to live. Just bring up Cleveland in realtor.com and look at the very few, very low quality house options under 100k. And then consider that most people are going to be living in a suburb that's a lot more expensive anyway.
There is indeed plenty of housing scattered around the flyover counties. For sure, it is less pleasant than in a rich suburban town. Those small towns do not have walkable downtowns or many cafes and eating out means a basic diner (they do not have good restaurants and entertainment precisely because affluent families moved to metros). You are very unlikely to resell it later for a massive profit. But the basics (water, sewer, electricity, groceries) are there and one can certainly live there if laid off and not envisioning good prospects for the next few years. My 2c.
It feels like the layoffs have mostly been in banking and tech, and that gets hidden in the overall unemployment rate.
Plan on switching the mortgage over to interest payment only for 6 months to help cash stretch.
Legislation came in the UK to help with this last year. It's called the "Mortgage Charter"
Poor severance packages and few opportunities?
I don’t see how this whole housing situation is sustainable. A 1 bedroom house in Peckham, Hackney, ex council going for 400k at 10pc deposit and current rates that’s almost 2k monthly payments for 25 years for a leasehold. Insane!
In the US this will wreck your credit rating. Yes, you'll survive and won't lose your house. But your borrowing costs will increase significantly if you need a new home, renovation, car, etc.
https://www.redfin.com/news/redfin-rental-report-december-20...
I will not drop the price further due to some weird laws in my American state. Ideally though, it would go down another 10%.