Key Takeaways from NAR’s 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
December 9, 2024 - Sejal Naik
Welcome Virginia REALTORS®
By Lisa Sturtevant, PhD
Chief Economist, Virginia REALTORS®
Tracking economic and housing market trends can help tell us where we’ve been. But it is just as important—and perhaps even more important—to look ahead and forecast where the economy and the housing market may be heading over the next few months and into next year.
Where Have We Been? A Look Back on 2020 and Early 2021
We know that 2020 was an unprecedented year, and 2021 continued to offer extraordinary challenges and uncertainties. In Virginia, the economy lost nearly half a million jobs last year with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The economy has been adding jobs slowly and steadily for the most of the past 16 months, but we are still far below pre-pandemic job totals.
While the economy faltered and has been improving slowly, the housing market rebounded strongly after a deep dive in the spring of 2020. The hot housing market continued into 2021, fueled by strong demand, low mortgage rates, and a trend in working from home.
Where are We Headed? An Outlook for the Rest of 2021 and 2022
Economic Outlook
Overall, these job and unemployment forecasts reflect the fact that our economy right now is still being driven by COVID. We need to push through the uncertainty and backtracking brought on with the delta variant and 2022 should bring even more solid economic growth both nationwide, but also here in Virginia.
Housing Market Outlook
These forecasts, along with lots of other information, are available on the Virginia REALTORS® website. Please use any of these materials with your clients, colleagues, and teams, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or need additional information.
December 9, 2024 - Sejal Naik
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