The
COVID-19
pandemic
impacted
the
housing
market
like
no
event
since
the
2008
financial
crisis,
but
some
of
the
trends
induced
by
the
pandemic
are
starting
to
reverse.
That’s
evident
in
the
annual

profile
of
home
buyers
and
sellers
from
the


National
Association
of
Realtors
(NAR),
which
provides
data
on
dozens
of
real
estate
trends.

When
the
pandemic
began
in
the
spring
of
2020,
wealthy
residents
of
urban
centers
like

New
York
City
and

San
Francisco
packed
their
bags
for

rural
areas
and
small
towns
to
escape
strict
lockdowns
and
find
more
space
for
things
like
home
offices.
This
gave
rise
to
the
narrative
that
city
dwellers
wouldn’t
return
and
urban
centers
were
dying.

Turns
out,
they
weren’t.
Between
2017
and
2021,
rural
areas
and
small
towns
had
remarkably
consistent
shares
of
the
home
purchase
market
at
about
13%
and
22%,
respectively.
But
in
2022,
the
share
of
homes
bought
in
rural
areas
(19%)
and
small
towns
(29%)
jumped
considerably.

These
purchases
came
primarily
at
the
expense
of
the
suburbs,
where
the
share
of
home
purchases
dropped
from
a
consistent
50%
level
prior
to
the
pandemic
to
39%
in
2022.
Urban
areas
also
took
a
hit,
falling
from
13%
to
10%.

But
in
2024,
this
trend
has
largely
reversed.
The
share
of
home
purchases
in
the
suburbs
has
moved
up
to
45%
while
the
16%
share
in
urban
centers
has
actually
moved
ahead
of
where
it
was
pre-pandemic.

Conversely,
the
share
of
purchases
in
rural
areas
(14%)
and
small
towns
(23%)
have
largely
returned
to
their
pre-pandemic
levels.

When
bad
things
happen
in
New
York,
pundits
often
say
it’s
the
end
of
the
city.
But
a
lot
of
the
post-pandemic
migration
among
New
Yorkers
was
intracity,
meaning
that
falling
rent
and
home
prices
in
Manhattan
were
the
result
of
people
moving
to
Brooklyn.

While
New
York
is
operating
much
as
it
was
before
the
pandemic,
San
Francisco
has
taken
longer
to
recover
because
the
population
is
heavily
concentrated
among
tech
workers.
These
companies
have
been
more
likely
to
adopt
permanent

work-from-home
policies.

But
many
major
tech
companies
are
now
calling
workers
back
to
the
office,
which
has
led
to
improved
office
market
conditions
in
both
New
York
and
the
Bay
Area. 

Other
data
in
NAR’s
report
also
reflects
a
return
to
density.
Prior
to
the
pandemic,
the
median
distance
that
homebuyers
migrated
from
their
old
house
to
their
new
house
was
consistent
at
15
miles.
That
number
popped
up
to
50
miles
in
2022
but
has
since
fallen
back
to
20
miles. 

The
age
of
homes
purchased
is
also
telling.
Between
2009
and
2021,
the
typical
home
purchased
was
built
in
the
early
1990s.
In
2022
and
2023,
however,
the
typical
home
purchased
was
built
in
the
mid-1980s.

This
is
largely
due
to
a
delay
in
homebuilding
caused
by
supply-line
disruptions
and
shortages
of
construction
materials.
Appliances
were
hard
to
come
by
for
builders
as
delays
in
computer
chip
deliveries
ran
rampant
and
lumber
shortages
caused
prices
to
skyrocket.

Homebuilders
are
starting
to
catch
up.
Today,
the
typical
purchase
is
for
a
home
built
in
1994,
or
roughly
where
it
was
pre-pandemic.

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