How the Pandemic Will Impact RE

Redfin wrote a great story last week after analyzing their April data of home views and an extensive survey on the percentages of people working from home that I want to share with you.

First, pageviews of homes in small towns surged 105% year over year at the end of April versus the same time period a year ago. In rural counties with fewer than 10,000 people pageviews climbed 76% at the end of April from 2019.

• Before the virus only about 9% to 16% of people worked remotely from home most of the time.
• During the virus those working from home primarily has soared to between 73% and 85%!
• 28% of these newly remote workers expect to continue to work from home after the virus.
• And over half of them said they would move if they never had to go into an office.

Redfin focused extensively on the metro areas of Seattle, San Francisco, NYC, and Boston and here is how many people would consider moving from these metro areas if they were able to work remotely all the time-

• Over 60% would consider moving away from the NYC metro area.
• Over 50% from the metro areas of Seattle, San Fran, and Boston would consider moving.

Why do I tell you this? First, we will most likely see more people leaving those 4 large highly congested cities to move to a smaller less congested city like Denver. Second, more people will leave the inner ring of city neighborhoods and older suburban neighborhoods to move further out where there is less crowding, homes may have bigger lots, and less expensive housing per square foot.

Redfin writes, "One of the most lasting impacts of this pandemic will be the way it spreads a once-centralized tech workforce across the country." But, high-speed internet will be a necessity for those who are relocating.