During a March 2020 survey of consumers in the United States, **** percent of respondents stated that if confined to their homes during the coronavirus, they were likely to purchase restaurant food delivery online. The food and hospitality industry has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic as bars and restaurants are forced to shutdown due to health and safety concerns. Many smaller establishments have pivoted to local food delivery services and there have been online initiatives to support local restaurants by buying vouchers or ordering food online.For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

The average sales price of new homes in the United States experienced a slight decrease in 2024, dropping to 512,2000 U.S. dollars from the peak of 521,500 U.S. dollars in 2022. This decline came after years of substantial price increases, with the average price surpassing 400,000 U.S. dollars for the first time in 2021. The recent cooling in the housing market reflects broader economic trends and changing consumer sentiment towards homeownership. Factors influencing home prices and affordability The rapid rise in home prices over the past few years has been driven by several factors, including historically low mortgage rates and increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the market has since slowed down, with the number of home sales declining by over two million between 2021 and 2023. This decline can be attributed to rising mortgage rates and decreased affordability. The Housing Affordability Index hit a record low of 98.1 in 2023, indicating that the median-income family could no longer afford a median-priced home. Future outlook for the housing market Despite the recent cooling, experts forecast a potential recovery in the coming years. The Freddie Mac House Price Index showed a growth of 6.5 percent in 2023, which is still above the long-term average of 4.4 percent since 1990. However, homebuyer sentiment remains low across all age groups, with people aged 45 to 64 expressing the most pessimistic outlook. The median sales price of existing homes is expected to increase slightly until 2025, suggesting that affordability challenges may persist in the near future.

The number of U.S. home sales in the United States declined in 2024, after soaring in 2021. A total of four million transactions of existing homes, including single-family, condo, and co-ops, were completed in 2024, down from 6.12 million in 2021. According to the forecast, the housing market is forecast to head for recovery in 2025, despite transaction volumes expected to remain below the long-term average. Why have home sales declined? The housing boom during the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that being a homeowner is still an integral part of the American dream. Nevertheless, sentiment declined in the second half of 2022 and Americans across all generations agreed that the time was not right to buy a home. A combination of factors has led to house prices rocketing and making homeownership unaffordable for the average buyer. A survey among owners and renters found that the high home prices and unfavorable economic conditions were the two main barriers to making a home purchase. People who would like to purchase their own home need to save up a deposit, have a good credit score, and a steady and sufficient income to be approved for a mortgage. In 2022, mortgage rates experienced the most aggressive increase in history, making the total cost of homeownership substantially higher. Are U.S. home prices expected to fall? The median sales price of existing homes stood at 413,000 U.S. dollars in 2024 and was forecast to increase slightly until 2026. The development of the S&P/Case Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index shows that home prices experienced seven consecutive months of decline between June 2022 and January 2023, but this trend reversed in the following months. Despite mild fluctuations throughout the year, home prices in many metros are forecast to continue to grow, albeit at a much slower rate.

In September 2020, a survey found that ** percent of respondents in the United States had been buying household supplies online before the coronavirus pandemic. After COVID-19, there was an expected ** percentage point increase in consumers buying these home items online. The same survey was conducted in February 2021 and it revealed that spending intentions decreased across many categories. Fitness and wellness, groceries, personal care products, and household supplies were among the few segments where post-COVID-19 growth was still expected. The change is real The coronavirus pandemic has upended lives worldwide, from how we work to shop and socialize, in general. In a survey published in March 2021, U.S consumers were asked about the important attributes of shopping online, among which the most chosen answers were faster delivery and in-stock availability. However, the share of consumers that shopped online for the first time is relatively minimal. For instance, only ****percent of German and Japanese respondents had never purchased online before 2020. Shopping online more than ever The e-commerce purchase frequency has also changed. In the U.S., over ** percent of respondents mentioned that their household goods online purchasing cycle had increased compared to one month previously. In terms of traffic and reach, food and groceries, home and garden, and sports and outdoors were the fastest-growing e-commerce categories worldwide.

Belgian consumers increasingly adopted contactless payments during the coronavirus pandemic as the NFC market share more than doubled within two months. This was a significant increase for the country, especially since Belgium had one of the lowest contactless penetration rates in all of Europe in 2018. Although Belgium does offer support for both Google Pay (since 2017) and Apple Pay (since 2018), their use was limited. In early 2019, it has been estimated that Belgium counted ******* Apple Pay users and roughly ****** Google Pay users.

COVID-19 changed Belgium’s payment behavior

Belgium’s use of debit cards over cash grew as the country implemented several safety measures in response to the coronavirus. For instance, there was an increase of the payment limit on contactless cards, like in in other European countries. This limit was increased so people would avoid having to type in their PIN during a transaction. According to available figures, Belgian consumers continued to use contactless payments even after quarantine measures were lessened.

Did COVID-19 have any influence on online shopping in Belgium?

Although Belgium’s e-commerce market size increased for several years in a row, domestic sources claim it has accelerated during the lockdown. A survey conducted in May 2020 notably revealed that many Belgians did their first-ever online purchase while being confined at home. The group of first-time buyers was especially high among people aged 60 and over. For instance, ** percent of 61-to-70-year-olds bought flowers online for the first time.

The number of home sales in the United States peaked in 2021 at almost ************* after steadily rising since 2018. Nevertheless, the market contracted in the following year, with transaction volumes falling to ***********. Home sales remained muted in 2024, with a mild increase expected in 2025 and 2026. A major factor driving this trend is the unprecedented increase in mortgage interest rates due to high inflation. How have U.S. home prices developed over time? The average sales price of new homes has also been rising since 2011. Buyer confidence seems to have recovered after the property crash, which has increased demand for homes and also the prices sellers are demanding for homes. At the same time, the affordability of U.S. homes has decreased. Both the number of existing and newly built homes sold has declined since the housing market boom during the coronavirus pandemic. Challenges in housing supply The number of housing units in the U.S. rose steadily between 1975 and 2005 but has remained fairly stable since then. Construction increased notably in the 1990s and early 2000s, with the number of construction starts steadily rising, before plummeting amid the infamous housing market crash. Housing starts slowly started to pick up in 2011, mirroring the economic recovery. In 2022, the supply of newly built homes plummeted again, as supply chain challenges following the COVID-19 pandemic and tariffs on essential construction materials such as steel and lumber led to prices soaring.

The home category had the highest increase in purchased products by new buyers in online Marketplaces, such as Amazon and AliExpress, during the coronavirus lockdown in Spain in the spring of 2020, with an increase of ***** percent. Moreover, home was one of the most popular categories during the Covid-19 quarantine in Spain.

Portugal, Canada, and the United States were the countries with the highest house price to income ratio in 2024. In all three countries, the index exceeded 130 index points, while the average for all OECD countries stood at 116.2 index points. The index measures the development of housing affordability and is calculated by dividing nominal house price by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 set as a base year when the index amounted to 100. An index value of 120, for example, would mean that house price growth has outpaced income growth by 20 percent since 2015. How have house prices worldwide changed since the COVID-19 pandemic? House prices started to rise gradually after the global financial crisis (2007–2008), but this trend accelerated with the pandemic. The countries with advanced economies, which usually have mature housing markets, experienced stronger growth than countries with emerging economies. Real house price growth (accounting for inflation) peaked in 2022 and has since lost some of the gain. Although, many countries experienced a decline in house prices, the global house price index shows that property prices in 2023 were still substantially higher than before COVID-19. Renting vs. buying In the past, house prices have grown faster than rents. However, the home affordability has been declining notably, with a direct impact on rental prices. As people struggle to buy a property of their own, they often turn to rental accommodation. This has resulted in a growing demand for rental apartments and soaring rental prices.

Homebuyers in the top 10 U.S. states with the highest median down payment for a home purchase had to pay more than double the median for the country in the first quarter of 2024. California, Massachusetts, and Hawaii were the states with the highest down payments in the United States, with median deposits for a home purchase exceeding ****** U.S. dollars. Nationwide, the median down payment was approximately ****** U.S. dollars. The rapid house price increase since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, has led to homebuyers needing to set aside a larger deposit. Additionally, a higher down payment allows borrowers to secure lower monthly payments.

In financial year 2024, banks in India advanced over *** trillion Indian rupees in housing loans. This was an increase compared to the previous year. This reflected renewed homebuyer sentiment, as an increasing number of Indians were investing in buying residential property. Growth of home loans market Forty years ago, home loans were an alien concept. People would direct their provident fund savings and retirement benefits toward buying a home. However, three key institutions: HDFC, ICICI Ltd, and the State bank of India with their new lending concepts led to significant changes in the home loan market. Currently different commercial banks, NBFCs, and housing finance companies have flooded the mortgage market, and giving prospective home buyers from diverse strata of society with bargaining power and a chance at affording a home. Inflation and home loans   India is not untouched by global inflation. To address the problem, the Reserve Bank of India hiked the repo rate **** times since April 2022 to *** percent. Consequently, leading banks and housing finance companies raised their lending rates. For a prospective homebuyer, this meant a rise in tenure for home loans. In other words, equivalent monthly payments (EMIs)for homebuyers have lengthened and become more expensive. In financial year 2022, banks in India advanced around *** trillion Indian rupees in housing loans almost reaching pre-COVID levels.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of house sales in the UK spiked, followed by a period of decline. In 2023 and 2024, the housing market slowed notably, and in January 2025, transaction volumes fell to 46,774. House sales volumes are impacted by a number of factors, including mortgage rates, house prices, supply, demand, as well as the overall health of the market. The economic uncertainty and rising unemployment rates has also affected the homebuyer sentiment of Brits. How have UK house prices developed over the past 10 years? House prices in the UK have increased year-on-year since 2015, except for a brief period of decline in the second half of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. That is based on the 12-month percentage change of the UK house price index. At the peak of the housing boom in 2022, prices soared by nearly 14 percent. The decline that followed was mild, at under three percent. The cooling in the market was more pronounced in England and Wales, where the average house price declined in 2023. Conversely, growth in Scotland and Northern Ireland continued. What is the impact of mortgage rates on house sales? For a long period, mortgage rates were at record-low, allowing prospective homebuyers to take out a 10-year loan at a mortgage rate of less than three percent. In the last quarter of 2021, this period came to an end as the Bank of England rose the bank lending rate to contain the spike in inflation. Naturally, the higher borrowing costs affected consumer sentiment, urging many homebuyers to place their plans on hold and leading to a decline in sales.