Before you start looking at homes, you have to make some decisions. Where you’d like to live should be among the first. After all, you can’t begin to calculate the costs and whether or not you can afford them without knowing what areas you’ll be targeting. For example, would you prefer a place in the city or a house in the suburbs? Well, if new home construction is any indicator, many Americans are making the decision to move further away from city centers and into the inner and outer suburbs. According to a new report from the National Association of Home Builders, construction activity has been increasing in low-density markets for a while now. For example, their Home Building Geography Index recently showed the strongest growth in the outlying suburbs of small metro areas. And that trend is likely to be exacerbated by the effects of the coronavirus. For one, the pandemic hit high-density areas the hardest, which may lead people to want a home away from the densely populated urban core. Another factor is the increasing number of people working from home. Americans who no longer have to consider their commute to work are more likely to be comfortable living further from the city. Whatever the case, the trend is clear. Americans are ready to spread out and home builders have noticed. (source)