Four Pandemic-Related Housing Trends With Staying Power

Home trends come and go. But every now and then—like during a once-in-a-century pandemic—new trends arise that leave an impact.

Housing and design trends go through cycles, but pandemic-induced social distancing is changing the way people live their typical day-to-day lives. Realtor.com’s Ana Durrani outlines four real estate trends that people have latched on to during the COVID-19 pandemic and reasons why they will have staying power for years to come.

The Zoom room
Regular videoconferencing from home—whether you're an employee or a student—is a new reality, and it’s become increasingly common to see agents and sellers including Zoom rooms in listings as part of a home’s features. But what is a Zoom room, anyway?

Essentially it's a dedicated room or corner of your home that features an aesthetically pleasing background for your videoconference calls. Zoom rooms are free of household clutter and typically removed from the high-traffic parts of the house. And experts predict the dedicated video room trend is likely to persist for buyers beyond COVID-19.

The backyard premium
It's little surprise that homebound owners—or would-be owners—are focusing more on backyard spaces. Some buyers are even willing to settle on a smaller house or a house in a less desirable area in order to have a large backyard where they can spend more time in the open air.

"For some, that means moving farther outside of town for the same-size house with more land. Others are moving into small townhouses so they can purchase a small farm outside of the city," says Mary Patton of Mary Patton Design.