Pandemic Changing How Americans Buy and Sell Homes

Appearing in: The Oklahoman

By: Jeff Ostrowski

The coronavirus pandemic is roiling the real estate market.

Home sales are down. Job losses have soared. Lenders have tightened mortgage requirements.

That’s the immediate fallout. This health scare and economic shock might also leave a lasting mark on how Americans buy and sell homes.

The longer the crisis drags on, the more the coronavirus could transform development patterns and buyers’ preferences. Here are several ways the pandemic’s legacy could live on even after the public health threat ebbs:

Your next home might be in the ‘burbs, not downtown.

Urban living made a major comeback in recent years. In New York, San Francisco and Seattle, home prices soared and job creation surged. Sprawling Sun Belt cities such as Austin, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, and Phoenix saw construction of new high-rise apartments and condos in once-neglected downtowns.

However, with COVID-19 claiming a huge toll in urban areas like New York City, density might lose some of its appeal.

“This crisis is the right moment for the world to reconsider the conventional wisdom that denser cities are better cities,” writes Joel Kotkin, a scholar specializing in urban issues at Chapman University in California.

Read the full article at The Oklahoman