62% of New Homebuyers Want to Work Remotely

During the coronavirus pandemic, home buying patterns in the United States shifted dramatically to accommodate the newly discovered needs of remote workers. Many recent homebuyers are hesitant to return to pre-pandemic work conditions due to the investment they have made in acquiring their new space.

According to a new survey conducted by Realtor.com, 62 percent of recent home buyers prefer working from home, up from 52 percent of consumers in the summer of 2020. Furthermore, the company discovered that some homeowners, particularly younger ones, are willing to go to extreme lengths to continue reaping the benefits of remote work.

Remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic has an impact on homebuyer trends.

According to the Realtor.com survey, of the 43 percent of respondents who currently work full-time, 60 percent work remotely. In both cases, younger workers account for the vast majority of these shares:

  • Almost 60% of Gen X and millennial workers work full-time, while 30% of Gen Z workers do.
  • More than six out of ten Gen Z homebuyers work remotely, followed by millennials and Generation X.

As a result, the needs of these generations have had a significant impact on recent homebuying and remote work trends, particularly as many of them begin to start families and raise children. According to Realtor.com, more Gen Z homeowners prefer working from home, with millennials and Gen X not far behind.

A different MetLife survey sheds some light on why this is the case: Working from home during the pandemic was appreciated by younger employees because it allowed them to improve their work-life balance, spend more time with their families, and work from a more convenient location.

In fact, younger homebuyers are willing to move further away from their workplace if it means they can benefit from higher home values and communities. When asked if they would commute farther for work, homeowners gave the following responses:

  • 27% of Gen Z respondents willing to do so
  • 22% of millennials respondents willing to do so
  • 13% of Gen X respondents willing to do so
  • 3% of baby boomers respondents willing to do so

Younger homeowners are also willing to spend more time commuting than their elders, with more than half of Gen Z and millennial respondents saying they would drive more than 30 minutes one way to work (compared with only about 30 percent of Gen X and 21 percent of baby boomers willing to do the same).

What homebuyers want in their post-pandemic work arrangements

Given these findings, it's not surprising that these new homeowners want to continue working from home in the future. After all, according to a recent FlexJobs survey, 9 out of 10 remote workers have already invested in their WFH setup, with 12% spending more than $1,000.

Although Realtor.com found that nearly half of remote workers (48 percent) have already been given permission to continue working from home following the pandemic, 27 percent say their employer has planned a return to in-person work, and the remaining quarter has not made a decision.

This may not be the news that these homeowners want to hear, but nearly half (48%) of these respondents are willing to compromise with a hybrid work arrangement. However, some respondents are considering alternative options, such as:

  • Getting a new job (23 percent )
  • They are selling their home (8 percent )
  • Returning to the office with no other changes (30 percent )