The Pandemic is Making Suburbs More Appealing

In a Harris Poll conducted April 25-27, 30% of Americans reported browsing a real estate site recently, but urbanites were almost twice as likely to have browsed (43 versus 26 percent). In this same study, 1/3 of Americans said they were considering a move to a less densely populated area. Four in ten (39%) of urbanites were considering a move to the suburbs.

The question is whether this is a new trend or a short-lived situation? I suspect this will be more of a problem for larger cities, especially those that were hard hit like New York City. Urban living is a small segment of the Utah housing market. Downtown Salt Lake City is probably the only true urban area in Utah. Salt Lake City has seen a resurgence of downtown living the past decade or so with City Creek and other projects. Despite the increase in the number of housing units in downtown SLC, it is still a relatively small market encompassing a small area. From the city center, you can walk a mile in any direction and be out of downtown. The major appeal of downtown living, is being near restaurants, clubs, bars, sporting events, etc. and it may take some time, if ever, for these establishments to return to normal. For that reason, I believe we will see housing growth in downtown SLC slow, but not to the extent of larger cities like NYC.

The suburbs represent the major market segment in Utah, especially along the Wasatch Front. So how will that market fare, going forward? That's a question for a future blog post.

- Jeff Jorgensen

Photo byKruse CollinsonUnsplash