Downtown Seattle and San Francisco have taken on the eerie quality of ghost towns as office buildings stand empty and wildfire smoke casts an orange glow over the once-bustling urban cores.
But polling and real estate data don’t back up fears that the pandemic will permanently alter the face of these world-class tech hubs.
Redfin and Zillow — both headquartered in Seattle — are not seeing a major shift in urbanites searching for homes outside their metro regions. In fact, some numbers suggest more concentration in urban areas of the cities. The research casts doubt on claims that new business taxes and the shift to remote work will decimate these innovation hubs, though it’s still unclear what the long-term effects of 2020’s colliding forces will be.
Real estate snapshot
In July, the region…
