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COVID is 5 years old, work-from-home is here to stay, and housing will never be the same

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As of February 2025 , about 28% of American work-hours are done from home, four times as much as pre-pandemic levels.

Housing market observers see the pandemic as a moment of flux, which many Americans seized to redefine their living arrangements.

Real estate agent: "People were much clearer on what they didn't want".

The opportunity to buy a home that beckoned Pieslak to Spokane also fueled a big upheaval in the national housing landscape.

Some metro areas that have struggled since the pandemic broke out are “really taking it on the chin,” Davis said.

A 2022 paper from the San Francisco Fed found that the shift to remote work accounted for more than half of overall house price growth.

In some places, an influx of new residents is a boon, even if it comes with rising home prices.