The number of Americans working remotely skyrocketed after the coronavirus took hold last March. And with newfound freedom to work from anywhere, how and where we live began to change. For one, home buyers began looking for properties in suburbs and exurbs, further from city centers.
Another example can be found in recent data showing that the number of home buyers locking in mortgage rates for second homes has risen 128 percent since last year at the same time. That's almost four times the increase primary homes have seen. Of course, one reason for the dramatic spike is the fact that the pandemic began last March, which led to a drop in home buying activity.
So, naturally, year-over-year comparisons are going to be skewed. But the fact that it's the tenth-consecutive month that annual growth rates have been 80 percent or higher means there's more to it than just that. One theory is that part of the spike is coming from remote workers, who are both looking for an investment property they can rent out and somewhere beautiful to spend, at least, part of the year. But while interest has surged, so have prices. In seasonal towns, home prices are up 19 percent from last year.
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