The housing market was among the very few bright spots for the US economy in the year of the lockdown and Home Depot became its supplier, racking up an unprecedented $132 billion in sales for 2020. Sales grew even stronger in the final quarter of the year, surging 25% to $32.26 billion. That is up from $25.78 billion in the same period last year and exceeded even the lofty projections for $30.66 billion on Wall Street, according to a survey of analysts by Zacks Investment Research. Home improvement stores became a beehive during the pandemic with millions working from home and attending school remotely. Many families concluded that bigger homes, or at least different homes, were the answer in 2020, driving prices sky high. On Tuesday, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index recorded a 10.1% spike in December, compared with the same month last year. That topped the 9.2% jump the previous month, and all other months going back almost seven years. While Home Depot was not alone in meeting the demand for hammers, paint or appliances that go along with a housing boom, the sheer volume of goods it sold this year were staggering.