2021 Is Expected to Be Another Good Year for Housing

A new round of uncertainty has hit the economy as COVID-19 hospitalizations reach all-time highs, but the new shutdowns reinforce one thing: the importance of home.

2020 has been a year of surprises, including the rise and fall and rise again of the U.S. housing market. Many questions remain about what is next; businesses are looking at their successes this year and wondering if they have just pulled demand forward, or if this year's strength will remain through 2021.

The Zonda team has analyzed the countervailing forces in the home building industry and provides its forecasts below. Forecasting has never been easy, but throw in a pandemic, a rocky presidential election, and the potential for a double-dip recession, and you get an even more convoluted picture. The forecasts given today will be subject to change as we learn more information about what COVID-19 will do to the economy in the winter months, review an anticipated new stimulus bill, and see the results from the Senate runoff races in Georgia on Jan. 5.

In the meantime, we have created our forecasts with certain assumptions in mind about the economy and housing market. As we lay them out, remember where we are coming from: Both single-family housing starts and sales have reached highs not seen in over a decade this year.