This also implies that prices may steady (even if they don't return to "normal") over the longer term even if this demand shift continues. Many of the exurban

This also implies that prices may steady (even if they don't return to "normal") over the longer term even if this demand shift continues. Many of the exurban and rural areas seeing house price increases have not historically been places of high housing demand. It's not hard to build a new house there, it's just that until recently nobody wanted to. A covid-preference-induced exodus from large cities could be the best thing possible to revitalize small towns that, a generation or two ago, saw all of their young people drawn to work opportunities in the city.