Twenty-five percent of American workers work remotely more frequently after moving, a recent study by Redfin revealed. Furthermore, 60 percent of survey respondents said their ability to afford non-housing expenses and leisure activities improved after their move.
“Of people who moved specifically for affordability reasons, a slightly higher share said they couldn’t have relocated without remote work, indicating that remote work has enabled workers to move to areas with more affordable homes,” the survey stated.
Redfin’s survey polled 272 U.S. residents during the month of December who signaled they had moved to a new metro area within the past year or had plans to move within the next year. The survey asked why they moved, where they moved to and from and how remote work factored into their relocation. Three-quarters of those surveyed were located in Los Angeles, California; San Francisco, California; New York, New York; Seattle, Washington and Boston, Massachusetts.
“The job market is very tight and employers want to hold on to people, so companies are much more willing now to allow workers to move,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a statement. “Plus, technology has enabled employers to let staff work remotely in a cost-efficient and productive manner.”
The survey also showed a slight increase in frequency of working remotely after a move. About 51 percent of workers stated that they worked remotely after their move, compared to 44 percent who worked remotely before their move.
In general, younger demographics saw greater increases in remote work after relocating, with participants 38-years-old and younger seeing a rise to 55.5 percent working remotely sometimes or always after moving up from 46.9 percent working remotely before moving. With participants who were 39 and older, they saw a more modest increase to 49.2 percent working remotely sometimes or always after moving compared to 42.7 percent who worked remotely before moving.
The majority of survey respondents cited a desire for more affordable housing as their reason for moving with 25.7 percent giving this reason. The second most cited reason, at 21.2 percent of respondents, was moving in order to be closer to family or partners and following that, 17.9 percent of respondents cited moving because of retirement.
Redfin
Most respondents who moved away from their metro area because of affordability concerns moved away from the Bay Area; Los Angeles, California and Seattle, Washington. Individuals who sought out more affordable metro areas relocated to Phoenix, Arizona; Sacramento, California and Portland, Oregon.