DUBLIN, CA—In its recent 2020 Economic Outlook, UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate forecasts that work from home trends resulting from COVID-19 will reshape the US housing market. These changes will likely be the norm well after shelter orders are lifted.
“Suburban housing will once again become a choice solution for both Millennials and empty nesters who very recently returned to an urban environment,” says David Shulman, Ziman Center senior economist. “It also means that many workers won’t have to live close to their workplace.”
This trend is exhibited in many Bay Area suburbs as developers and homebuilders are experiencing increased sales from buyers planning to work from home. In many cases, these are employees of tech and other creative industries who are no longer required to live near company offices. Many are choosing larger or otherwise more suitable homes as a result of this option.
Brookfield Residential, which is building homes in seven communities in Northern California, reports a 40% increase in year-over-year sales for the past 90 days. The enticements for work from home buyers are many, and a new home may be less expensive and more roomy than comparative residences in San Francisco, says Brookfield Residential president Josh Roden.
“These homes offer dedicated, comfortable spaces for people to work, study and entertain, and the robust connectivity needed to make these activities go smoothly,” Roden tells GlobeSt.com.
Among these new buyers are Priyanka and Abhishek Patil, who currently rent in San Jose but recently purchased a home at the Hyde Park neighborhood at Boulevard in Dublin, CA. Boulevard is the 1750-home master plan developed by Brookfield Residential and Lennar.
The Patils closed escrow in July and plan to move in December. Priyanka works in product marketing for a technology company in the Bay Area and her husband, Abnishek, is a robotics engineer for a construction and power tools company.
“We’re hearing now that we’ll be working from home indefinitely and we will set up a home office,” said Priyanka. “The need to work from home also inspired us to search for a larger home–not just with a home office, but also a kitchen island and much more room in general.”
She said the Dublin location was also more convenient than San Jose, as her husband works in the northern Bay Area, and Dublin is approximately midway between the two offices should they return to commuting.