You cannot look back at 2020 without using an acronym most of us had never heard of before 2020. Of course, that acronym is COVID.  We started the year somewhat normally. The economy was slowing down a bit and the real estate sector was doing well. Then in March, the economy shut down like it never had before. In March we had a historic drop in the stock market, and it looked as though we were going to have a rough year in equities. Yet, by the end of the year, stocks were convincingly higher compared to the end of 2019.

Interest rates plunged as the Federal Reserve pulled out all the stops to help rescue the economy.  Even though stocks rebounded, rates stayed at historic lows the rest of the year. Congress also acted to stimulate the economy, passing trillions of dollars of economic relief, along with foreclosure and eviction moratoriums.  This medicine helped as the economy recovered just over half of the over 20 million jobs lost during the sharp and brief recession.

The economy itself recovered from a record plunge it experienced in the spring, but we still expect to see negative growth for the year.  This winter we head into the new year with surging COVID cases, high hopes for vaccinations, a very hot real estate market bolstered by record low interest rates and an economy still on the mend with millions of jobs still to recover.  Hopefully 2021 will be the year of recovery in more ways than one.

 

Dave Hershman is the top author in the mortgage industry. Dave has published seven books, as well as hundreds of articles and is the founder of the OriginationPro Marketing System and Mortgage School. Want to send this commentary and other news in a personalized format to your sphere database or on social media?  Sign up for a free trial at  www.OriginationPro.com.

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