ARAMCO's President & CEO, Mehran Aram, discusses with Radio host Mark Carbonaro from Monterey's PowerTalk 1460 the current climate in the housing and commercial real estate industry and how it's being affected by the global pandemic.

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Housing Starts were up in May nearly 5% thanks in part to construction workers returning to employment following the Covid-19 outbreak. Meanwhile mortgage applications had another strong weak buoyed by mortgage rates reaching a new all-time low.

The housing market is holding fairly well in spite of the setback of the pandemic with mortgage rates reach fresh record lows making it an ideal time to refinance and lower monthly mortgage payments.

The stock market has improved after taking a hit due to the pandemic back in March. Meanwhile, mortgage rates are still hovering near all-time lows.

Mortgage rates are at record lows once again with rates dipping below 3% making it an ideal time, for those able to qualify, to refinance or purchase a new home.

Mortgage forbearance reach 9% of all active mortgages. However the good news is that new mortgage forbearance applications have slowed down substantially.

New home sales saw a slight uptick in April as some stay-at-home measures were lifted. New home sales are expected to continue to gradually increase into May as well.

Mortgage rates hit fresh lows at the end of April according to Freddie Mac and may fall lower making it an ideal time to refinance.

Mortgage in forbearance have steadily increased since the outbreak of the pandemic and have now reached nearly 5 million. Meanwhile the global pandemic is causing trade tensions with China to resurface once again.