Pandemic induced population growth? (Cleveland, Warren: sales, real estate, rental market)

[Cleverfield]

According to recent data from Linkedin, Cleveland ranks 5th in new residents gained during the pandemic. It seems like maybe the pandemic is pushing people away from crowded metros, and the growth of remote work is making affordable cities like Cleveland more attractive. As a Realtor I can say anecdotally I've been working with way more people moving here from other cities than I have in past years, and both the home sales and rental markets across the city have really tightened up.

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2021/...-linkedin.html

[King_Henry]

Ohio including especially Cleveland has a huge amount of people that left that would love to come back. With WFH being permanent for many, this makes returning back a reality for many. I would not be surprised to see this trend continue. While not a native, I have lots of family there. If my job allowed for it, I would move to Cleveland. Compared to Texas, the weather is overall much less extreme and the real estate is affordable and good quality for similar priced property.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by King_Henry

Ohio including especially Cleveland has a huge amount of people that left that would love to come back. With WFH being permanent for many, this makes returning back a reality for many. I would not be surprised to see this trend continue. While not a native, I have lots of family there. If my job allowed for it, I would move to Cleveland. Compared to Texas, the weather is overall much less extreme and the real estate is affordable and good quality for similar priced property.

I do not think work from home will be permanent and I am aware of nobody I know for whom this is either happening or desirable. Most places seem to be re-evaluating remote work policies but far from giving up the office. And I think that is correct, being around people matters a lot. This might be regionally more flexible though. For example, I have a friend in Warren who is thinking about taking a job in Cleveland since they are only asking 1 or 2 days in the office per week. She'll do that drive once a week, but would never do it every day.

But to your point about people who have left returning back, this seems to certainly be happening. This is what I did before covid, but I've met more than a few people anecdotally who have done the same thing, though to be fair, some of this was because they were laid off wherever they were living.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

I do not think work from home will be permanent and I am aware of nobody I know for whom this is either happening or desirable.

I do hope you're right. IMO the benefits of schmoozing, networking, and power lunches should not be underestimated. A lot of important corporate decisions come about that way. Back in my corporate days, the social aspects of working were my favorite part and kept me going.

[TechieTechie]

Well, I don't think 100% pool of WFH will be permanent..but I can tell you that I work for a VERY well known global professional services firm. And we just announced that we are not going back to 100% onsite or client site EVER. Their goal is for at least 50% of us to be 2-3 days on, 3-2 days home. (And 10-20% either 100% remote or 100% client site) Better for corporate expenses (less commercial RE footage), better for employee mental health (most folks burn out on 80-100% travel)....plus many big city commutes eat up 2+ every day.

And I know we are, by far, are not the outlier. The downside? BIG blurring between personal and work lives.

That being said, given the likely post COVID work habit shifts, the ability to 100% relocate or at least expand your commuter radius is about to get hella bigger. I'm not surprised Cloverfield, that you are seeing more non locals househunting. I think (and hope) CLE is poised for some major growth.