The remote worker migration in rental property that started in 2022, is expected to continue in 2023 with 36 percent of remote workers planning to move in 2023, a new Apartment List survey says.
The flexibility of remote work, despite bosses wanting workers to return to the office, is still a major factor in rental housing.
“We found that the flexibility afforded by remote work is indeed leading to higher rates of mobility and shifting geographic preferences,” Apartment List economist Chris Salviati writes.
“Given their heightened propensity to move, remote workers have been having a disproportionate impact on housing market trends, and this is expected to continue into 2023 and beyond,” he says.
Compared to on-site workers, remote workers were more likely to move in 2022 and considered different factors when they did so, the report says.
Hybrid Workers Most Likely To Move
Salviati said the highest moving rates were observed among workers with hybrid remote arrangements – those who split time between working at home and on-site – 31 percent of whom moved in 2022, a rate of mobility that was 78 percent greater than that of on-site workers.
The survey was conducted of almost 6,000 employed adults in December 2022.
The results “imply that remote work, even in hybrid form, is allowing some workers to move to locations that better suit their preferences now that they are less bound by job locations.
“In fact, more than one-in-five remote workers who moved in 2022 specifically told us that their remote work status was a motivating factor for their move,” the report says.
Freedom Of Choice In Housing
The freedom of choice in housing when not tied to an on-site job location result in “greater satisfaction in living arrangements for remote workers.”
Hybrid workers may be able to consider a wider range of geographic locations – assuming that they’re willing to commute longer distances if those commutes are not daily – however, their options are still largely contingent on their job location.
Knowledge Sector Jobs Can Be Performed Anywhere
The report concludes that the pandemic-caused change in how workplaces are organized proved that “a significant share of knowledge sector jobs can be performed from anywhere with an internet connection.
“The rapid uncoupling of housing choice from job choice has had profound implications for the housing market in recent years, and there is good reason to believe that the dust has yet to fully settle.
“Those with remote flexibility are still a minority in the workforce, but a rapidly growing one. And as they continue to account for an even greater share of moves, these workers will play a key role in driving domestic migration patterns this year and into the future,” Salviati writes.
