Home Offices are in High Demand

More people are working from home, and that is having a big effect on their real estate needs, The New York Times reports. About 24% of employed people in the U.S. worked at least part of the time at home last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among those with advanced degrees, 42% worked from home part of the time.

In a separate survey by John Burns Real Estate Consulting of 23,000 new home shoppers, about 30% of respondents said they worked at home between one and four days a week; 13% worked at home full time.

As more people work from home, real estate experts point to the growth of home offices as well as a change in migration patterns away from cities as a potential impact of the growth of telecommuting.

“The importance of home offices has almost begun to rival the attention that buyers give to kitchens,” Robin Kencel, an associate broker with Compass in Greenwich, Conn., told the NYT. “Where they will work is on nearly every buyer’s mind.”

But the spaces don’t have to be overly formal, adds Kencel. “People are looking for more of a textured, comfortable feeling—natural light, doors to a private terrace, and great wall and floor finishes,” she says.

Buyers are looking for flexible spaces that can serve more than one purpose, adds Robert Dietz, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders.

Americans are also moving less often, the NYT reports. The average household moves every nine years compared to every six years in the 1980s, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting.

“If you work at home, you don’t necessarily have to move if your job moves,” says Rick Palacios Jr., director of research at John Burns. “And many companies, ours included, view e-commuting as a competitive advantage that allows us to attract the best and brightest, regardless of geography.”