How Working From Home Affected The Real Estate Industry

by Austin Towne

Ever wonder how working from home is affecting the Real Estate Industry?

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers have either strongly encouraged or mandated their employees to work from home. Almost a year later, and that is still the case for most. The work from home model has proved many benefits for employers as well as employees; Increased productivity, lower operating costs, even an increase in recruitment opportunities. Some trends even suggest that companies are looking at expanding their remote working policies for after the pandemic.

The shift of working from home, has caused the real estate industry to see an increasing trend from individuals moving from urban to suburban areas. This is especially the case in major cities such as Vancouver. Moving out of the city means finding more affordable inventory options, especially for young or even first time buyers as they are not tied to live close to the the city for work anymore. Low interest rates have also fueled market demand by providing stronger purchasing power for buyers. As a result, demand has increased (52.1% in Metro Vancouver for sales compared to last year) putting upward pressure on prices due to the limited supply available.

Moving forward, the Real Estate market is expected to be strong for 2021 as Metro Vancouver Real Estate produced $2.1billion for British Columbia’s economy in 2020. It Is expected to still be a seller’s market wither lower interest rates continuing to drive the sales activity.

References

Mohtashami, L. (February 2, 2021). Will the WFH trend affect the housing market after COVID?. Retrieved from: https://www.housingwire.com/articles/will-the-wfh-trend-affect-the-housing-market-after-covid/

MYND Management. (January 7, 2021). How Working Remotely Will Impact the Future of Real Estate. Retrieved from: https://www.mynd.co/knowledge-center/how-working-remotely-will-impact-real-estate

Andersen, R. (January 18, 2021). Canadians Leaving Big Cities In Record Numbers: Statistics Canada. Retrieved from: https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadians-leaving-big-cities-in-record-numbers-statistics-canada-1.5270161

RE/MAX. (December 1, 2020). Vancouver Housing Market Outlook (2021). Retrieved from: https://blog.remax.ca/vancouver-housing-market-outlook/#:~:text=Vancouver%20housing%20market%20to%20continue,continue%20to%20impact%20housing%20activity