Homes
The roller-coaster that was 2020 did not leave the housing market untouched. Mortgage interest rates hit historic lows last year, allowing hundreds of pandemic telecommuters stuck inside their homes for months to relocate to larger houses.
According to Forbes, 2020 has seen a wild growth in home prices, which is expected to continue in 2021, but at a somehow slower rate. “We expect affordability to become a bigger challenge. It’s going to make [housing] more expensive,” says realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “But home prices will rise slower than in 2020, on the upper end of what we consider normal price growth.”
However, new home prices will most likely jump by 5.7% in 2021 while sales of existing homes are expected to increase 7% in 2021, which could be quite a blow to buyers on a budget.
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Car insurance
The coronavirus pandemic has kept people inside their homes more than ever. People who used to spend a lot of their time behind the wheel, going to and coming back from work, taking kids to school, traveling and running daily errands, were no longer required to drive as much because of shelter-at-home orders and COVID-19 travel restrictions.
All these changes caused the overall driving to be cut in half in 2020. With fewer drivers on the road, not to mention the financial problems many people have been facing in 2020, many car insurance companies reduced rates, canceled or lowered certain fees and penalties. Some even provided relief programs that included refunds, credits or one-time payments, among other things. In 2021, as people resume their driving habits, many of the special relief measures will no longer be valid and rates will most likely increase, according to insurance experts.
RELATED: 7 Dangerous Mistakes You’re Making Every Time You Use Your Car
