How Remote Work Continues to Impact Real Estate
How Remote Work Continues to Impact Real Estate – According to numbers from June 2021, the number of employees that were working remotely fell to its lowest since the pandemic began to a number of 14.4% according to Marketwatch. During the peak of the pandemic shut downs about 35% of workers across the country were working full-time from their homes.
This large and significant shift for a good amount of time made big adjustments to corporate culture and the way in which people began to shop for homes is still having an impact on the real estate market today.
The increase in workers working remotely and those continuing to work remotely caused several different items in the real estate market to be impacted. Here are some of the trends that remote work has brought to the real estate market that are continuing on.
25% of Americans moved during the pandemic, many of them driven by the possibility of remote work
On October 30 of 2020, the website Upwork released a study showing what was shocking to many real estate experts. This study showed that somewhere between 14 million and 23 million people relocated during the pandemic just because they could now work remotely and have the freedom to do so from any location that they wish.
These numbers showed that the number of people moving was about 3 to 4 times the normal numbers or what was considered to be normal numbers before the pandemic.
Of every person who moved since the pandemic began it is said that about 28% of them reported doing so because they were able to work from home. So says a data analysis conducted by the company HireAHelper.
Going back to the study conducted by Upwork, their numbers revealed that the largest percentage of those moving took an exodus from big cities in search of less expensive housing and less crowding in the suburbs. Desperate more real estate dollars to many of America’s smaller and cheaper cities.
Rural and remote small towns saw unexpected real estate growth
There was a larger interest in purchasing a home in areas with small populations. Forbes has reported that tiny towns of just a few hundred people like Winhall Vermont and Truckee California became seemingly flooded with what some would call city dwellers.
There was an increase of those who are living in the city that were seeking out wide open spaces, plenty of fresh air, and the ability to stay in community with others and have a simpler life. This however did send prices in these towns that were traditionally extremely affordable to new highs.
Beginning of the zoom town
The term zoom town may have been around before the pandemic began but it really became something notable that most people knew about as a result of the pandemic. The name zoom town is attributed to the news station NPR who is credited with coining the phrase. The zoom town is one where high-earning urban ex-pats have settled in large numbers as a result of being able to do a job from anywhere bringing their high-income tech jobs and cash with them into small-town America.
These zoom towns tend to be luxurious vacation hotspots such as Aspen, Cape Cod, and the Hamptons. Paradise-like vacation spots that most people would not think about working from.
Related: 8 Ways to Meet Your Neighbors
Having a home office or space for Co-working is a must on shopping lists
It’s not uncommon for homebuyers to communicate to their real estate agent things that they are looking for in their next home. At the top of many of the lists right now is space that allows for someone to work peacefully from within the home such as a dedicated home office space or an area in which they can set up a workspace.
For those who are unable to find the space in their current home and cannot foresee moving to a new one, it has shifted the demand in the commercial real estate sector for shared workspace areas.
The business model of giving a clean and safe workspace that you are able to use for a certain amount of time on a subscription basis became an even higher demand during the pandemic as more people were able to work from anywhere and some sought to get out of their home away from their families to be able to accomplish more work.
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