The rush to crowd into cities to be closer to tech jobs could be a thing of the past in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as more people embrace remote work and flee close quarters. And Seattle-based real estate company Redfin is “preparing for a seismic demographic shift toward smaller cities.”
During a Q1 earnings call last week, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said the aversion to big metro areas was already underway before the health crisis, driven by a housing affordability crisis.
“More permissive policies around remote work and a rising wariness about close quarters will likely accelerate that trend,” Kelman said. “More people will leave San Francisco, New York and even Seattle, some for nearby towns like Sacramento and Tacoma that are close enough to support a weekly office visit, others for a completely remote life in Charleston, [S.C.], Boise, Bozeman or Madison.”
Axios reported on a Harris Poll survey that found nearly one-third of Americans are considering moving to a less densely populated area because of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
In the Seattle area, many thousands of tech workers at companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Zillow and others have been able to do their jobs from home. And some of those companies will not be rushing to require that workers return to crowded campuses and office buildings.
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Amazon extended its WFH policy until at least early October, Microsoft did the same and Zillow Group gave employees the option through the end of the year.
A few years ago, Kelman was making similar predictions about people moving from certain cities. He foresaw an exodus from places such as Silicon Valley, New York and Boston toward Seattle at the time.
“We are going to see both businesses and people move to places that are more affordable and it’s going to be good for the country,” Kelman said in 2017.
The shift because of the pandemic is “just going to happen faster,” Kelman said last week.
Redfin posted $191 million in revenue in first quarter earnings on Thursday, up 73 percent and beating expectations of $178 million. Kelman touted the company’s technology — video chat tours; self-service access to homes — as a competitive advantage.
