Guest editorial: A global housing affordability upheaval after Covid-19

[...]housing has become less affordable since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, as house prices have grown much faster in relation to incomes on average. [...]there has been a global real house price surge during the pandemic. To prevent a surge in mortgage arrears and foreclosures, “mortgage holidays” were introduced to allow mortgagees to defer their payments. [...]central banks maintained interest rates at very low levels in response to the pandemic shock.