2021 housing market forecast: What will fuel home sales?

Even as the pandemic nears its end, its impact on the way we work and live will in many ways be permanent, and Americans will migrate to homes that fit their new lifestyles.

We already saw much of this movement in 2020, as home sales surged over 20% this fall, but many homeowners were nervous about listing during the pandemic and will be ready to sell in droves next year. This will send home sales to highs not seen since before the Great Recession of 2008.

In 2021, migration will continue to set records as more than 30% of homebuyers will look to leave their current metro area. The normalization of remote work means that Americans will continue to move to suburban and rural areas, or decide to move to cities that fit their personal preferences instead of just their careers.

The increase in movement will mean many more Americans will have new neighbors. A large majority of Americans are open-minded about moving to a place where their neighbors don’t share their ethnic or religious background. Small towns could start attracting more residents with high-income tech jobs.



We could see more people moving in next door to neighbors who have different backgrounds or beliefs. I am actually part of this trend—I moved from highly liberal Seattle to a swing county in Wisconsin in the fall of this year.