BALTIMORE — A recent back to school survey with Bright MLS shows that more than 80 percent of parents are considering to keep their children at home this school year, in turn creating a new opportunity in the real estate market.
According to Bright MLS, buyers are now focused on finding homes with the appropriate amenities for homeschooling needs, not the proximity to a specific school district.
"They're looking for office space...the most important amenity that they're looking for is wifi and wifi speed, especially when you have several people working," Brian Donnellan, CEO of Bright MLS said.
Donnellan says that they're seeing people moving from the city to the suburbs as well. This is also causing these homes to see their highest advances in a long time.
He says because of the current state of affairs, people are learning that the travel time to and from work doesn't matter as much anymore.
"Single family homes are a big consideration and you just don't find those in the dense city areas as much as you do out in the suburbs," he explained. "We clearly see them moving out to the suburbs to get more space, both inside and out, a separate space for the home and office and separate space for the homeschooling as well too."
According to the survey, 59 percent of respondents say potential buyers with school-age children are most interested in single-family homes and 35 percent are looking for space for multiple home offices.
Donnellan says he would imagine the school districts people choose still matter, but people are making the best decisions right now with the information that they have.