Is urban flight an overreaction?

Plenty of people are exiting cities for the burbs – although maybe not for good

The coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally altered our way of life over the past several months, forcing us to spend a lot more time at home. And for many, those homes have changed addresses — especially for city dwellers who have sought refuge and better housing deals in suburban and less-populated areas.

Per a sur vey by Azurite Consulting, 39 percent of urban residents are targeting a move to a rural setting (25 percent) or suburban location (14 percent) over the next two to three years. Additionally, 35 percent of urban renters with a total household income of more than $150,000 are gearing up for a home purchase. And 96 percent of rural dwellers do not expect to relocate to a suburban or urban setting in the next two to three years.

Consider, too, that the median sales price for homes in rural areas and suburban environments across the countr y rose 11.3 percent and 9.2percent, respectively, year-over-year in the four weeks ending Aug. 2, according to Redfin. By contrast, urban locations only obser ved a 6.7 percent home price increase.

Yet this supposed mass exodus from big cities could be media overhype. Zillow recently reported that, compared to urban markets, suburban housing markets have not strengthened at a disproportionately rapid pace, and suburban and urban markets have obser ved similar changes in home sale activity in recent months.

Whether urban flight is a bona fide trend or a brief anomaly, there are many reasons why many inhabitants of major metros are looking for greener pastures farther out from the concrete and steel.

“There are at least two different factors that could motivate this migration from city centers to rural areas. One is income loss, and the other is a sense of protection from the coronavirus,” said Patricia Akinaga, an urban planner and landscape architect, principal with Studio-mla in San Francisco. “Living in cities like New York and San Francisco means spending a lot of money per square footage, and small spaces do not of fer conditions for social distancing — yet some cities invested in their public realm, providing residents safer spaces to be outdoors.”

John Boyd, principal of the corporate site selection firm The Boyd Company, Inc., in Prince

GETTY IMAGES The COVID-19 pandemic combined with low interest rates has motivated people to buy homes farther away from the city.