Staying Close to Home

Americans didn’t move far, but property market impact may be profound

Newspapers last spring were filled with stories of empty downtowns as firms converted overnight to remote working, freeing office workers from the grind of their daily commutes. Not needing to report to the workplace, countless office workers, especially in tech and finance, moved to smaller communities where initial COVID infection rates were lower and housing more affordable.

But what is being reported isn’t always the reality. So how do we learn what is really happening to our cities’ populations? Did masses of people really abandon San Francisco, New York, and other leading metros in favor of greener and less expensive areas? Well, like any good story, it’s complicated.

Read my analysis in Propmodo.