Some people are calling it the COVID housing boom, others, like Zillow Founder Rich Barton, are calling it the Great Reshuffling. Amidst what was expected to be a disastrous year for the housing market across North America, Zillow slashed costs by 25%, bracing for the worst ahead. Instead, second quarter revenues at Zillow soared 28%, far surpassing any expectations. The explanation, Barton says, is the nationwide trend toward remote work brought on by social distancing concerns. Seventy percent of Americans report working from home at least some of the time, and all Americans are spending an average nine hours more at home per day than they did before, Barton says. And that means people have new priorities in where they want to live. A big backyard and room for a home office is more important these days than a short commute or proximity to a bustling downtown. I share this because this is the exact same story here in Vancouver. People’s lives have fundamentally changed since COVID, prompting a surge in not only home sales, but new listings as well.
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