Source: The Daily Sabah —
In just two years, the ratio of employees working remotely in the world’s richest countries has increased from 15% to 25%-30%. This situation, in addition to the rapidly increasing demand for housing, has multiplied the interest in housing models that have features that better suit working from home, have larger balconies or even a small garden. Amid the new normal since the coronavirus, 26% of employees in the U.S. are working from home, around one in four. According to institutions that closely monitor the U.S. employment market, at least 22% of the working population (36.2 million) will continue to work remotely from home in 2025, even if the global pandemic ends.
This shows that during the pandemic, households were unable to spend on non-durable goods and services such as tourism. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimations, especially in developed countries, $7 trillion in savings has been accumulated – and this accumulation is now being directed towards real estate. However, this trend has also triggered serious increases in real estate prices in some countries. So much so that in the last year alone, housing prices in the U.S. have increased by 19.8%, representing the highest annual increase of all time. As mortgage-backed real estate loans continue to grow at the same pace, the Fed continues to buy $40 billion of mortgage bonds each month. The mortgage bond portfolio on the Fed’s balance sheet has reached $2.5 trillion.
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