MASS RURAL MIGRATION

MASS RURAL MIGRATION

Millions Leaving Urban Communities to Move into Rural Counties

People across the nation came to terms with a changing world when the pandemic hit two years ago. More and more companies began offering work from home opportunities. Residents from bigger cities started migrating out of urban areas to avoid crowds, rising crime and violence, tighter restrictions and higher costs of living. Additionally, with advancements in technology, especially high-speed internet, many more jobs can be done from more and more locations outside of urban areas.  This movement created significant changes and has yet to cease with UCRE nationwide growing another 17% so far this year.

A large population of people are searching for lifestyle, small town/city and rural communities where they can take advantage of more peaceful and close-knit cultures, afford to buy real estate, lower their cost of living, allow for privacy and are surrounded by the beautiful countryside. For all of us, this moment, where millions more people are seeking rural and lifestyle properties, has fueled our successes these past couple years. We had the right people, expertise, focus, systems, programs and properties. But the question remains: “How long will we see this trend last?”

According to a recent article from the Wall Street Journal, there has been a complete change in migration patterns in the U.S. confirming millions leaving urban communities to move into rural counties since 2020. There has also been a related significant rise in job postings in these counties as well as personal income as these newcomers brought new business and purchasing power with them.

Many argue this is a permanent shift. In some urban markets, investors and investment groups are buying upwards of 35% of all available housing to rent or lease. This is continuing to drive prices up and, with rising interest rates, a huge group of the population is finding housing harder to buy in these urban markets.  As real estate becomes unaffordable in urban markets and inflation continues to squeeze budgets, the demand of lifestyle real estate should remain strong. We can take advantage of where the market is and provide an extremely valuable service to facilitate this migration and share the beauty of country living. Now more than ever it is important to make sure you are visible as more properties continue to be sold in our markets.

As we navigate this unique period in history, it is important to realize we are blessed to be right in the middle of “The Great Migration.”

To view the full Wall Street Journal article, please visit https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-states-migration-lockdowns-census-11640733268.

About United Country Real Estate

United Country Real Estate is the leading, fully integrated network of conventional and auction real estate professionals specializing in lifestyle and rural real estate. The company has been an innovator in real estate marketing since 1925, with a unique, comprehensive advertising program. This exclusive program includes the highest ranked and largest portfolios of specialty lifestyle property marketing websites, unequaled national print advertising, the largest internal real estate advertising agency, an extensive buyer database of more than 650,000 opt-in buyers and additional proprietary programs to advertise properties more broadly.

Learn more about United Country Real Estate at www.UnitedCountry.com or United Country Auction Services at www.UCAuctionServices.com.