The housing market has proven to be generally immune to the economy’s current predicament, though some areas are faring better than others. Realtor.com’s director of economic research says markets that contain the virus best are seeing the strongest recoveries. Topping the list of most recovered is Boston, Mass. at 122.52%. Anything over the 100% threshold shows how much better the city is doing since January 2020, the site says. Though cities are recovering, buyer interests have shifted and it affects what’s selling and what’s sitting. In Boston, for example, townhomes and condos are sitting while McMansions have sold at original asking prices.
So where are these comeback kids—the housing markets rebounding the most since the start of the COVID-19 crisis?
Realtor.com found that more than half of the largest metropolitan areas have recovered from their pandemic lows. (Metros include the main city and the surrounding suburbs, exurbs, and smaller cities.) But the housing markets in less expensive, smaller cities as well as the suburbs and farther out towns where buyers can get more square footage for their money, the easier to social distance in, are more in demand than high-rise condos and apartments in the nation's largest, most expensive city centers.
"People are looking for larger homes and also looking for value," says Vivas.
Advertisement
Related Stories
Government + Policy
Housing Affordability Becomes Debate Topic in 2024 Presidential Election
Presidential candidates are tackling affordability issues as home price-to-income ratio reaches record high
Economics
Mortgage Rate Declines Could Boost Home Sales Following Months of Low Activity
Encouraging economic news bumped mortgage applications up by 2.6% for the week ending May 3
Economics
Gen Z Feels Weight of US Debt Burden While Trying to Enter Housing Market
Current US debt has surpassed levels reached in the aftermath of World War II, with Gen Z bearing the brunt