In March 2020, the wheels came off a booming economy. COVID closed businesses and schools, shelter-in-place mandates were enacted, and unemployment in the U.S. skyrocketed to 14.9 percent. Now, a year later, businesses and schools are struggling to reopen and roughly half the jobs that were lost are still trying to come back. Remarkably, the residential real estate market largely missed the crash. Sales are up, home values continue appreciating, and construction is accelerating. Real estate is providing a much-needed foundation and tailwind for a strengthening economy.
