SANTA CLARA, Calif.,
Aug. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- America
is looking to move again, and the COVID-19 pandemic is influencing
the U.S. housing market both in terms of where people are searching
and what they are searching for, according to
realtor.com®'s quarterly Cross Market Demand Report,
which measures search data to provide insight into where shoppers
are looking for their next home.
After an initial shift in search habits at the onset of the
coronavirus in the U.S., home shoppers looking outside their
current metro area for homes have surpassed pre-COVID levels, and
more are increasingly setting their sights on the suburbs. During
the second quarter of 2020, 51% of views from urban residents of
the U.S.' 100 largest metros went to suburban properties in their
metros, an all-time high since realtor.com® began
tracking metro level search data in 2017.
"We see lingering effects of the coronavirus on shopping
behavior and preferences. In the Northeast, especially, people are
now as likely as before the pandemic to be looking for a home in a
market that's not where they currently live. However, those
looking elsewhere are much more likely to be looking in smaller,
nearby markets," said realtor.com® Chief Economist
Danielle Hale. "With remote work
more common and accepted, it seems that people are looking to
locate further from the office either to enjoy more space at a
better price, or get closer to nature in the mountains or at the
beach. At this point, they are not venturing too far away."
The search data analysis reinforces the findings of a recent
realtor.com® Harris X consumer survey of 2,000 active
home shoppers, which indicated that home purchase decisions are
being influenced by consumers' ability to work remotely, desire for
more space and their willingness to commute longer to get what they
want in a home.
Northeastern markets heat up as search activity is shifting
to smaller, less dense areas
Following a decline in
searchers looking outside their local market during the second
quarter, Northeastern markets saw an uptick in interest in
July. This activity was primarily driven by residents of the
region's larger metros looking in smaller, nearby bedroom
communities or vacation home markets such as East Stroudsburg, Penn, Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk,
Conn. and Atlantic City and
Ocean City, N.J.
The same trend was evident in the New
York metro area, where demand grew in outer-lying counties,
such as Nassau and Suffolk County, N.Y., and Monmouth and Ocean
County, N.J., but decreased slightly in Manhattan and the Bronx.
Remote work policies could influence the West
With
many tech companies extending their work from home policies and
employees anticipating that their employers will afford more
flexibility for remote working, the potential exists for home
shoppers to search farther from home as the year progresses.
During the second quarter, people looking for homes in
Seattle, Portland, Los
Angeles and San Diego from
outside markets cooled, while Riverside-San
Bernardino, San Francisco,
and Sacramento saw an improvement
in out-of-market home-buying interest. Demand in Riverside was heavily driven by Los Angeles residents, while the market also
saw demand from San Diego
searchers. Sacramento homes were
primarily viewed by home shoppers from San Francisco, San
Jose and Los Angeles, which
could be prompted by remote workers seeking affordability and more
space. San Francisco's
out-of-market demand, however, counters these broader trends.
Interest in San Francisco was
primarily driven by San Jose,
perhaps as nearby shoppers see an opportunity to get into the
pricey, exclusive market.
South and Midwest cool as COVID cases heat up
While
the Southeast, especially South
Florida and the states of Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South
Carolina saw an increased interest from searchers in other
markets during the second quarter, out of market searches slowed in
July as the region battled a spike in COVID-19 cases. At the same
time, some of the region's largest metros, including Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami and Tampa, saw inbound searches decrease in July
compared to the second quarter.
The Midwest saw increasing out of market shopping interest
before the pandemic hit, but has failed to recapture that strength
since. Midwestern metropolitan areas saw the rate at which home
shoppers searched outside their home metros almost consistently
decrease since February, other than a small improvement in May.
This signals that Midwestern metros are likely still struggling to
return to normal, and is consistent with concern for emerging COVID
hot-spots in the region and pre-pandemic job market weakness.
For more information, read the full report here.
About realtor.com®
Realtor.com®
makes buying, selling and living in homes easier and more rewarding
for everyone. Realtor.com® pioneered the world of
digital real estate 20 years ago, and today through its website and
mobile apps is a trusted source for the information, tools and
professional expertise that help people move confidently through
every step of their home journey. Using proprietary data science
and machine learning
technology, realtor.com® pairs buyers and
sellers with local agents in their market, helping take the
guesswork out of buying and selling a home. For
professionals, realtor.com® is a trusted
provider of consumer connections and branding solutions that help
them succeed in today's on-demand world. Realtor.com® is
operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV]
subsidiary Move, Inc. under a perpetual license from the National
Association of REALTORS®. For more information,
visit realtor.com®.
Media Contact:
Janice McDill,
janice.mcdill@move.com
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SOURCE realtor.com