Disruption was the theme of 2020. The universal COVID-19 pandemic dramatically affected global and domestic economic growth. The housing market was no exception at the start of the pandemic, with sales activity plunging in the spring. However, a combination of resilient households, robust government support, and constrained supply has led to red-hot sales activity in the housing sector. New single-family home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 841,000 in November, up 20.8-percent year-over-year according to the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. Home prices also rallied in the pandemic, with the median sales price of an existing home rising to $310,800 in November, up more than $30,000 since March and 14.6 percent year-over-year. Mortgage delinquencies have held steady due to government support, rising to 2.81 percent in the third quarter of 2020 but remaining far below levels from the Great Recession.
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