The U.S. housing market has slowed, after ** consecutive years of rising home prices. In 2021, house prices surged by an unprecedented ** percent, marking the highest increase on record. However, the market has since cooled, with the Freddie Mac House Price Index showing more modest growth between 2022 and 2024. In 2024, home prices increased by *** percent. That was lower than the long-term average of *** percent since 1990. Impact of mortgage rates on homebuying The recent cooling in the housing market can be partly attributed to rising mortgage rates. After reaching a record low of **** percent in 2021, the average annual rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage more than doubled in 2023. This significant increase has made homeownership less affordable for many potential buyers, contributing to a substantial decline in home sales. Despite these challenges, forecasts suggest a potential recovery in the coming years. How much does it cost to buy a house in the U.S.? In 2023, the median sales price of an existing single-family home reached a record high of over ******* U.S. dollars. Newly built homes were even pricier, despite a slight decline in the median sales price in 2023. Naturally, home prices continue to vary significantly across the country, with West Virginia being the most affordable state for homebuyers.

Online office and school supply sales are stabilizing after a mixed stretch, with revenue in 2025 up 2.0% to $2.2 billion and profit supported by lean digital operations, subscriptions and private labels despite subdued consumer pricing power. Hybrid work remains the sales engine. With more than half of workers splitting time between home and in the office, carts skew toward tech-centric items like wireless printers, ergonomic accessories and cloud-connected tools, while K-12 and university students' spending pivots from paper to interactive devices and webcams. To hold share, category leaders and marketplaces are doubling down on AI recommendations, curated bundles and eco-refill programs that boost conversion and repeat purchase even as average selling prices stay sharp. Industry revenue fell at a 1.6% CAGR over the past five years, as online demand normalized post-pandemic, inflation squeezed budgets and buyers substituted away from traditional stationery to digital alternatives. Despite the drag, the channel's share expanded on the back of broadband ubiquity, one-day delivery, frictionless checkout and push-driven reorders that turned habitual purchases into dependable recurring revenue. A wide product ladder--from value pen packs to premium essentials--kept baskets resilient, while must-have school items like calculators and art supplies anchored seasonality. Rising incomes nudged upgrades to sustainable or higher-quality SKUs at leaders such as Amazon and Staples, lifting average order values. Momentum looks modest but durable over the next five years. Revenue is projected to climb at a 2.1% CAGR to about $2.4 billion in 2030 as consolidation, subscriptions and last-mile reliability widen scale advantages for industry leaders. Formalized loyalty tiers, eco-certified private brands and precisely timed promotions around back-to-school will become more common. With hybrid work entrenched and platform ease of use non-negotiable, office and school supply sales will compound while defending profit through data-driven pricing, denser fulfillment operations and refill subscriptions for inks, paper and notebooks.