Greener Pastures? Homebuyers’ Interest Turns to Rural America

The trend, economists say, is partly due to the fact that pandemic-related working from home means commute times are no longer a major factor for some people.

The real estate experts at Redfin recently released a report covering the current trends in housing migration. According to the report, the demand for homes in rural and suburban areas is skyrocketing as more people seek to escape big cities.

With the pandemic causing many homeowners to rethink their urban lifestyles and place their sights on much less dense and congested locales, the wide open spaces and better affordability of rural and suburban neighborhoods appear to be attracting a large majority of homebuyers.

In fact, Redfin reports that for the month of July homes in rural areas across the nation were in highest demand, a demand which far surpassed supply. As the home prices in across the nation rose 11.3% on average (year over year) during July, those homes in the nation’s suburban areas rose 9.2%, the homebuyers wanting greener pastures (and less crowds and skyscrapers) remained undeterred. As for the urban areas, those home prices rose 6.7%. These statistics show that homes in rural areas have continued to experience higher price growth than suburban and urban areas since April.

Redfin economist Taylor Marr remarked on this current trend in housing migration: “We’ve been speculating about increasing interest in the suburbs and rural areas since the start of the pandemic. Now we’re seeing concrete evidence that rural and suburban neighborhoods are more attractive to homebuyers than the city, partly because working from home means commute times are no longer a major factor for some people. And due to historically low mortgage rates, interest is turning into action. There will always be buyers who choose the city because their jobs don’t allow for remote work or they place a premium on cultural amenities like restaurants and bars—which will eventually come back—but right now the pendulum is swinging toward farther-flung places.”