A lot of people are simply fed up with city living, and I’m not necessarily talking about the politics or the current political climate, but city living is really pushing more and more people into the suburbs.
Big cities for years have been drawing people in four years due to great employment opportunities, culture, and nightlife, but with more and more people working from home, the city life has kind of lost its luster. Due to the current pandemic and lockdowns, more and more people have been working from home and places like New York City has taken on the tremendous toll from the outbreak. Museums, restaurants, and theaters haven’t operated in months and many are shutting down permanently. All of these factors lead to the increased demand in suburban homes in smaller cities and even rural areas.
Are more people leaving the city for a suburban living?
Working from home.
Working from home can definitely create residential flexibility. For years, companies have been discussing more work from home opportunities but now, many of these companies have been forced into coming up with solutions for their employees. Essential businesses and those that can work from home are definitely doing so and a vast majority of employers plan to increase the number of permanent work from home positions. This is great news for employers because they can save on pricey office buildings and may be able to hire employees that live just about anywhere in the world. Facebook recently announced that they be offering work from home positions permanently and would adjust pay scales according to location since employees would be forced to live in expensive areas like Silicon Valley and downtown New York City.
The pandemic is changing other city attitudes as well.
Many people have a changed attitude about living in dense, city apartments and condominiums. Because of the pandemic, people want to spread out and social distancing is almost impossible when you live in a 200 square-foot apartment along with 300 other people. Many people feel that this is one of the biggest moves from urban areas to the suburbs since the 1950s or 60s.
The New York City real estate market is suffering.
According to Realtors in New York City, there’s been a tremendous increase in people looking for single-family homes in outlying areas including upstate New York, West New York, and even outlying states such as Connecticut and New Jersey. The apartment vacancy in June was at a record high of nearly 4%. There was an 85% increase in apartments listed that month compared to June 2019.
This leads to competition in the suburbs.
Because all these people are moving out of the big cities, competition is heating up in the suburbs. There’s been a surge in demand for many of these outlying neighborhoods and communities and not only is it more affordable but many of these homeowners experience lower taxes. However, without a lot of inventory in many of these areas and low-interest rates, some home prices are increasing rapidly. Buyers are not only looking for single-family homes in suburban areas but for lifestyle features as well such as home offices, larger space, family rooms, and outdoor entertainment space.
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It may be early to tell how things are going to progress from here but this is definitely a sign of new times. Lewiston New York has been one of those places that people are drawn to not only for our small-town feel but for the close proximity to Canada, Niagara River, and lots of outdoor entertainment. Now may be the perfect time to consider moving out of the city into a suburban community before prices increase too much.
More: Why Live in Lewiston NY?
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