What Connects the Housing Market and the Return to Office?

Back to Work

Americans are returning to the office, and that has ripple effects on everything from their local coffee place to the housing market.

Office foot traffic nationwide is at its highest level since the pandemic, but still nowhere near (72%) the pre-pandemic level, per market research firm Placer.ai. The return to office trend has been most pronounced in major metros like New York City, where office visits have reached nearly 90% of pre-pandemic levels, and Miami, where they have even exceeded 90%.

This has sent ripples through the real estate market. Here’s why.

Real Estate Ripples

Workers left cities en masse during the pandemic, as the flexibility of remote and hybrid work arrangements allowed them to look for lower cost of living (and real estate) elsewhere. But as many workers are returning to a prepandemic work schedule, they are also returning to some of the biggest real estate markets in the U.S.

New York City is seeing steady growth among homebuyers, according to a report by Realtor.com, and the housing market in Washington, D.C. has also seen a resurgence. It’s not just central areas that are popular, but also suburbs with reasonable commute times: Basking Ridge, New Jersey — which is less than 40 miles from Manhattan — ranked fourth in Realtor.com’s 10 Hottest Zip Codes of 2024.

But not all metros show this dynamic of returning prospective buyers. Despite surging office traffic, Miami’s housing market has seen a decline after turning into a pandemic-era hotspot. Housing markets in Atlanta and Dallas, which also boomed during the pandemic, have slowed down as well, even as office visits climb.

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