In October Research’s latest economic forecast series webinar, Zonda’s Housing Economics Manager Nikolas Scoolis shared his insight into the latest market trends and what they mean for the housing market.
He first explained how the economy ended up where it is. A “pandemic-induced boom” over the last two years affected every aspect of our economy, Scoolis said.
“We saw a two-month shutdown of basically everything, and then the economy came roaring back to cycle highs,” he said.
However, work-from-home mandates and mass early retirements led to “an era of employee empowerment,” Scoolis said, forcing employers to pay more to retain and hire employees. That, coupled with supply chain issues that prevented manufacturers from keeping up with consumer demands, helped drive inflation to the highest level in decades.
As the economy recovers, he said the question is whether it has a hard landing (meaning we enter a recession as the Fed continues raising interest rates and the economy stalls) or a soft landing (we enter growth stage in the more appropriate 2 percent or 3 percent rate range.)
Scoolis shares Zonda’s market forecast, as well as a deep dive into the shifting housing market, including data about new home construction. For details, watch the 30-minute webinar for free, thanks to SoftPro’s sponsorship, here.