Suburban Space Gains Popularity as Housing Recovery Begins | Realtor Magazine
The pandemic has caused more Americans to rethink where they want to call home. In many regions, suburban and rural areas are seeing stronger recoveries from the pandemic than their nearby urban areas, according to a new report from realtor.com®.
In May, online listing views at realtor.com® in suburban ZIP codes rose by 13%, nearly double the pace of growth of urban areas. More than half of the nation’s 100 largest metros are seeing rising interest in the suburbs, realtor.com® reports.
“This migration to the suburbs is not a new trend, but it has become more pronounced this spring,” says Javier Vivas, realtor.com®’s director of economic research. “After several months of shelter-in-place orders, the desire to have more space and the potential for more people to work remotely are likely two of the factors contributing to the popularity of the burbs.”
In recent years, suburban areas have started to outpace urban areas in growth in terms of views per property at realtor.com®. May data marks the second largest gap between suburban and urban views since realtor.com® began tracking such data in 2016. Listing views per property in rural and suburban ZIP codes were up an average of 16 and 13% annually, respectively. Views per property in urban areas, on the other hand, were up 7% year over year.
“Suburban interest typically peaks during the summer, as families look to move before the start of the school year,” says Vivas. “However, suburban interest in May outpaced last year’s July peak, which could indicate even stronger interest in the suburbs as summer homebuying season continues to heat up.”