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M R EP O RT | 25 and will drive prices potentially higher, or at the very least, absorb any access that might be putting pressure on prices," he said. Chris Marlin, President of Lennar International, told CNBC in an interview in June 2019 that foreign buyers are looking to the U.S. residential real estate market for long-term, stable investments. Marlin said the consumer behavior from Japanese buyers is showing a trend of moving away from yield and focused more on stability and self-use. He added that while there has been a decline in interest from Chinese buyers in California, Chinese buyers are looking more into properties in Florida, Texas, and along the East Coast. Marlin added that Chinese interest in China is still evident, but they are moving away from high-priced homes. American Community Survey data produced by the U.S. Census Bureau and provided by Realtor. com found that California led the nation in the Chinese-household population in 2017, with a re- ported population of 968,777 and 392,525 total Chinese households. California has a total foreign- household population of 10.6 million. The California metro of San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara led the nation in the highest share of Chinese households at 8.3%. Fellow Golden State areas—San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward and Los Angeles-Long Beach- Anaheim—followed with shares of 7.7% and 3.4%, respectively. The data also revealed that Florida's 0.3% share of Chinese households was the lowest in the nation for areas providing num- bers for both foreign-born and Chinese households. Pennsylvania and Texas' share of 0.6% was the second-lowest in the nation for areas reporting both figures. Florida had a Chinese- household population of 70,901 in 2017 with 24,852 Chinese house- holds. Mississippi's 24,904 foreign households were the lowest in the nation for those reporting data for both foreign-born and Chinese households. Steven Mnuchin: Unemployment Could Hit 20% Unemployment during the Great Recession peaked at 10.2%. C NN reported that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told Republi- can senators in March that COVID-19 could drive U.S. unemployment to 20%. His comments come after he asked Republication senators to act on a $1 trillion economic stimulus to avert this scenario. CNN's report also said the Treasury Secretary was concerned the economic ramifications of COVID-19 could be worse than the Great Recession. According to The Balance, unemployment peaked during the Great Recession in October 2009 at 10.2%. The rise of the coronavirus has caused both the Federal Reserve and the federal government has taken actions to combat the virus. The Fed cut interest rates to zero in March in an effort to bolster the U.S. economy as it combats the effects of the coronavirus. The benchmark interest rate is now in a range of 0% to 0.25%, which is down from a range of 1% to 1.25%. The Fed also announced it is re-starting its "quantitative easing," as it did following the Great Recession to try and get money into the markets and the economy. "The Committee expects to maintain this target range until it is confident that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve its maximum employment and price stability goals," said the Fed in a statement. The Trump administration said they are considering a plan to allow homeowners whose income was impacted by COVID-19 to delay mortgage payments. The report adds a mechanism for borrowers to catch up has yet to be decided. Also, the govern- ment will have to determine how to advance money to servicers so investors in mortgage-backed securities get their guaranteed payments. Mnuchin said previously that the government is "looking at sending checks to Americans im- mediately," during a White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing. Mnuchin added the goal would be to send checks to Americans in two weeks to help workers cope with the economic effects of COVID-19. Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Mitt Romney, as well as Democratic Sen. Tulsi Gabbard, have suggested $1,000 per adult. COVER STORY SPECIAL REPORT: COVID-19