As the U.S. moves into recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, avoiding some of the worst fears of an economic collapse, experts warn that millions of families are still at risk of losing their homes.

The annual State of the Nation’s Housing Report from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies found that 2.3 million homeowners are behind on their mortgages and face potential foreclosure, while millions more are behind on rent. With federal orders halting some evictions and foreclosures set to expire on June 30, the report warns of a "potential crisis."

The end of those policies, the report states, could "set off a wave of evictions and foreclosures unless federal assistance from the most recent relief package is implemented quickly and effectively." The economic fallout from the pandemic resulted in more than half of all renter households to lose income in the past year, according to Census Bureau data, which the Harvard report says could leave renters in dire straits as home prices continue to rise.

"In order to make meaningful improvements to housing affordability and address the many challenges worsened by the pandemic, policymakers at all levels of government must work together to reduce barriers to producing modestly priced homes," Daniel McCue, a senior research associate at the center and a lead author of the report, said during a virtual event Wednesday. He added that policymakers should "reduce the many persistent racial and ethnic disparities in housing cost burdens, home ownership and household wealth that were reinforced by the pandemic."

Read the full article about averting the housing crisis by Jason Plautz at Smart Cities Dive.