IS WORKING FROM HOME THE “NEW NORMAL”?

Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, more people have been working from home.  From huge companies, like IBM, to your smaller local companies, many employers had a large amount of their employees working from home.  One may have thought that the mass exodus from the office would return to normal after the pandemic.  However, there are many companies continuing the remote work trend, like IBM, Spotify, Twitter, 3M and many more, according to CNBC.

Working remotely isn’t for everyone, but for many it has improved their lives professionally and personally. People are working longer hours, but they report higher levels of happiness and productivity. A study by Standford of 16,000 workers over 9 months found that working from home increase productivity by 13%.  A lot of company are going to a hybrid model where time is split between the office and home.

What does this have to do with Real Estate?

Glad you asked!

With the ability to work from anywhere, we are seeing a trend of families leaving large, expensive metroplexes, and moving to locations with a cheaper cost of living or places that make them happy.  Why not if you can work from anywhere, right? Maybe the move is to the beach where you can watch the waves while working on your computer and answering phone calls.  Maybe move closer to family. You can move out of that tiny New York apartment and purchase a large suburban home in the Sunbelt. The freedom of location provided to employees with a remote work environment is definitely noticed in the Real Estate market, and it looks like this trend is here to stay.