How Remote Work Reshaped the Property Map of the World

From Zoom towns and Sun Belt surges to prime-city rebounds, hybrid work hasn’t just changed commutes—it has redrawn the world’s property atlas.

The aftershock that didn’t end

By the middle of the 2020s, the great remote-work experiment had plainly outlived the pandemic that sparked it. In the United States, the most consistent trackers show work-from-home stabilizing at roughly a quarter to a third of paid workdays—down from the 2020–2021 peak, but far above the pre-COVID baseline of 4–7%. That equilibrium has persisted through economic cycles and employer mandates, shifting city budgets, housing markets, and office towers in its wake.

This new geography sits atop a rapidly digitized planet. By 2024, about 68% of the world’s population used the internet, up sharply from 53% in 2019—an infrastructural precondition for the spread of hybrid work beyond wealthy urban cores. Yet the digital divide remains steep, which helps explain why remote work’s impacts have been uneven across and within regions.

Hybrid work is now the modal compromise in rich economies: managers and workers tell the OECD they expect telework to remain part of normal practice because it improves well-being and, in many settings, supports performance. That sets the stage for more nuanced, place-specific effects—from downtowns that are thinner at lunch to suburbs whose school districts and roads feel the strain of new arrivals.

A primer on the property mechanics of hybrid work

The economic logic is straightforward. When people spend more time at home, they demand larger, higher-quality dwellings (an extra room, a quieter street, better broadband). They also value proximity differently—often favoring neighborhoods or towns that trade a longer, less frequent commute for more space or amenities. That re-optimization raises housing demand in “good-enough commute” suburbs and attractive second-tier metros, while reducing the premium for being right next to a central business district.

Empirically, the effect has been big. Using variation in cities’ pre-pandemic remote-work exposure, economists estimate that the shift to remote work explains over half of the real U.S. house price increase from 2019 to 2023—through both migration and higher per-capita demand for space. Similar patterns show up in rents and in the relative prices of larger versus smaller homes. Commercial rents, conversely, sag most where remote-work exposure is greatest.

Globally, residential prices in many economies remain above pre-pandemic levels even after 2023’s cooling—another sign that some of the pandemic’s housing repricing reflects durable changes in how (and where) people live and work.

North America: From “Zoom towns” to big-city rebounds

1) The migration story matured

The early pandemic years favored low-density metros and suburban counties. By 2023–2024, however, the picture complicated. New U.S. Census “Vintage 2024” estimates show cities of all sizes grew on average from 2023 to 2024, with the biggest numeric gains in New York City, Houston, and Los Angeles. Suburban growth continued, but the suburban advantage narrowed as big cities clawed back population. In short: the urban exodus eased, even as hybrid work persisted.

Two additional dynamics tempered the pandemic’s Sun Belt wave. First, net domestic migration into Florida and Texas slowed markedly from 2022 highs, as housing costs and climate risks bit—though both states still grew overall. Second, elevated international migration bolstered populations in large coastal metros, reviving some urban headcounts despite hybrid work.

New York City—an emblem of 2020–2021 out-migration—posted two consecutive years of population growth, adding about 87,000 residents between mid-2023 and mid-2024, with all five boroughs in the black and Manhattan leading. That does not mean Midtown is “back to 2019” at 12:15 p.m., but it does mean the simple doom-loop narrative is past its sell-by date.

2) The housing market kept its hybrid imprint

The compositional shift in demand that began in 2020 remained visible. Places with the greatest remote-work potential (white-collar occupational mix, good schools, fiber broadband) retained much of their pandemic-era price premium, even as mortgage rates reset. Researchers continue to attribute a large share of U.S. pandemic house price appreciation to remote work’s structural demand shock—not merely to low interest rates.

3) Offices: a polarized “flight to quality”

Commercial real estate’s adjustment is still running. Globally, the office vacancy rate reached ~16.8% in late 2024 before stabilizing, with North America the worst-hit and Asia Pacific tighter. The split within markets is stark: in the U.S., prime buildings saw vacancy fall to ~14.5% in Q2 2025 while non-prime vacancy rose to ~19%, highlighting a decisive “flight to quality.” Average asking rents barely budge in nominal terms and fall in real terms—unless you look only at top-tier product.

One coping mechanism—office-to-residential conversion—moved from think-tank paper to pipeline. By mid-2025, CBRE tracked $12 billion in U.S. office conversions (all-time high) and over 43,000 units in the multifamily pipeline, with the largest shares in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Conversions remain hard (cost, zoning, floorplates), but the policy appetite is there.

4) Coworking: the flexible shock absorber

Hybrid schedules juiced demand for flex space closer to where employees live. WeWork’s restructuring dominated headlines in 2024, but the broader flexible-office industry diversified and grew: IWG (Regus/Spaces) told investors in 2025 that hybrid work is supporting record customer numbers and steady expansion, even as occupiers optimize footprints. In short, flexible space is now a structural feature of occupier strategy, not a cyclical fad.

Europe: Hybrid habits, prime-city resilience, and a retrofit race

1) Policies tilt toward in-person—but hybrid persists

Across Europe, employers gradually nudged attendance up—often to three days per week—yet hybrid remained the norm. JLL reports that 85% of firms require at least three in-office days and many expect more by 2030. That push has supported leasing in prime submarkets (and rents), even as older or peripheral assets sit longer.

2) Offices: vacancy higher, but bifurcation deepens

On aggregate measures, European office vacancy rose from 2020 lows to the high single digits in 2023–2025, with prime rents still edging up and take-up improving from 2023 troughs. Central London’s vacancy slipped to ~7.1% (Mar 2025) amid strong demand for high-grade space, while older stock in outer markets faces decades-high vacancy. Development pipelines are thinning, and retrofits are in vogue as new-build launches fall to multi-year lows.

JLL’s global lens captures the contrast: Europe and North America carry the highest vacancy rates, while Asia Pacific is tighter and saw a modest improvement through early 2025. The quality gap—between sustainable, amenity-rich assets in A+ locations and the rest—has become the market’s organizing principle.

3) Population arithmetic: migration-driven growth, uneven telework capacity

Europe’s population growth since 2020 has largely been migration-driven, with net inflows of roughly 2.8 million in 2023 offsetting natural decrease; in the UK, net migration halved in 2024 following policy changes—dampening pressure on rentals in some hubs even as labor markets remained tight. Hybrid work’s uptake varies widely by sector and region, with higher city adoption reflecting occupational mix and broadband quality; rural regions still lag on digital access and telework feasibility.

4) The planning turn: mixed-use downtowns and retrofits

Municipal strategies increasingly revolve around mixed-use revival (conversions, culture, street-level activation) rather than a simple “wait for five-day weeks.” Prime nodes—Mayfair in London, CBD West in Paris, central Milan—retain pricing power; mid-market assets face capex bills for energy performance and amenity upgrades. Europe’s retrofit wave reflects both climate policy and the reality that hybrid work shrinks occupiers’ required footprints while raising bar-height for quality.

Asia: Lower vacancy, uneven telework, and divergent city fortunes

Asia Pacific stands out for comparatively lower office vacancy and more elastic return-to-office norms—though conditions differ by market. Singapore’s prime office rents notched gains into 2025 even as vacancy ticked around low-teens on some measures; constrained new supply and a tight CBD support landlord leverage. Hong Kong, by contrast, still works through a multi-year downcycle with vacancy around the high-teens and bank exposures under scrutiny, though some indicators suggest stabilization. Mainland China’s key cities are digesting oversupply as demand pivots toward AI and advanced manufacturing tenants.

On the residential and demographic side, some of the pandemic’s decentralization reversed. Japan is emblematic: after 2021’s near-stall, Tokyo’s net in-migration rebounded, posting a net inflow of ~79,000 in 2024 as companies re-centred hybrid patterns around urban headquarters and young workers returned for career reasons. Telework adoption in Japan remains lower than in North America and Europe, but far higher than pre-2019—concentrated in large firms and the Tokyo metro.

Across the region, many employers adopted hybrid norms without fully embracing fully remote models. That cultural and managerial context—along with transit networks and smaller average dwelling sizes—helps explain why Asia’s office markets did not hemorrhage demand to the same degree as San Francisco or Dallas, even as occupiers consolidated into better space.

Cities, suburbs, and rural areas: Who gained—and who strained

Big, expensive cities: resilience with scar tissue

The 2020–2022 story—out-migration, hollowed lunches, soft transit fareboxes—has given way to a 2023–2025 story of selective rebound. Large cities led U.S. numeric population gains in 2023–2024, buoyed by immigration and a return of younger cohorts. But foot-traffic and office attendance patterns remain “peakier,” retail spends are more weekend-weighted, and fiscal repairs continue. The rebound is strongest in submarkets with top-tier offices, lively mixed-use, and universities; weakest where aging stock and weak amenity mixes collide with safety or mobility concerns.

Suburbs and second-tier metros: still winning—just more slowly

The shift to bigger homes, better schools, and backyards isn’t reversing; it’s normalizing. Price growth cooled with rates, and Sun Belt in-migration slowed from its 2021–2022 peaks, but many suburbs and mid-sized metros kept net inflows and corporate footprints—often augmented by flex-office outposts. The lesson: hybrid didn’t kill cities; it re-balanced metros.

Rural towns and amenity hubs: connectivity is destiny

A handful of “Zoom towns” parlayed lifestyle and outdoor amenities into durable inflows, but the median rural region still faces digitization gaps and weak job density. In the EU, 2023 data show rural internet access still trails cities and towns, limiting where fully remote lifestyles can take root at scale. Where high-speed broadband and professional services mesh (think alpine valleys with fiber, islands with co-living campuses), remote work underwrites niche housing demand and seasonal price spikes.

Work-from-anywhere hubs and the new mobility chain

National and city policy has followed the talent. A growing roster of destinations now courts remote workers and digital nomads with tailored visas, tax clarity, and co-working ecosystems:

• Lisbon’s Digital Nomad Visa offers one-year residency tied to foreign employment, combining affordable living, strong broadband, vibrant co-working spaces, and a thriving international community into a true “plug-in city” proposition.

• Portugal’s D8 (Remote Work) visa formalized a pathway for mid- to high-income foreigners to live and work locally while employed abroad.

• Spain rolled out a digital nomad visa aligned to its startup law, with clear income thresholds and tax treatment, elevating Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia on nomad maps.

• Barbados’ 12-month Welcome Stamp remains an archetype of beach-meets-broadband strategy. Estonia’s digital-nomad-friendly regime—adjacent to its e-residency brand—anchors a northern alternative.

• Greece launched its own digital nomad visa under a revamped residency framework, offering clear income requirements and favorable tax incentives—positioning Athens, Thessaloniki, and the Greek islands as emerging hubs on the global nomad map.

These programs don’t move millions, but they re-seed local economies—supporting co-working, boutique rentals, cafés, fitness, and gig services. They also add pressure on housing affordability in sweet-spot neighborhoods, which is why smart hubs pair visas with supply-side housing policies and tourist-rental rules.

Commercial real estate: three durable shifts

1. Quality and sustainability as rent drivers: Occupiers use hybrid to shrink and upgrade: fewer desks, more collaboration space, high air quality, energy-efficient shells, and top-tier locations near transit. The result is a widening rent and vacancy spread between prime and non-prime assets across continents.

2. Flex as core: Corporates now bake flexible office into occupancy strategies—partly as a hedge against macro uncertainty and partly to offer teams shorter commutes a few days a week. Industry bellwether IWG continues to expand its network to meet that demand; landlords increasingly partner with operators rather than trying to white-label alone.

3. Mixed-use downtowns: With all-weekday demand unlikely to return to 2019 patterns, cities and owners are programming streets for evenings and weekends, courting residents, students, tourists, and life-sciences tenants. The conversion wave is real—but hard. The biggest U.S. pipelines are in markets with policy supports (tax abatements, zoning fixes, green grants) and floorplates that suit apartments or student housing.

The ripple effects: affordability, infrastructure, and inequality

Housing affordability

Remote work helped re-price space, especially where supply was slow to respond. IMF analysis notes that many countries’ house prices remain well above pre-pandemic levels even after 2023’s cooling. The U.S. literature suggests remote work was a first-order driver of the 2020–2022 surge, and its footprint persists in rent and price levels. Policymakers learned (again) that elastic supply—by-right density near transit, faster approvals, accessory units—matters more than slogans.

Transport and urban services

Fewer five-day commuters mean peak loads are lower but more variable. Transit agencies are right-sizing service (strong weekends, middling Tuesdays), and cities are experimenting with curb pricing, bike lanes, and weekend economies. The property corollary: retail that depended on Tuesday–Thursday lunches must pivot to destination and residential-serving formats.

Digital connectivity

Where hybrid stickiness is highest, broadband quality is a floor for property values. The global rise in internet use masks gaps between high- and low-income regions and a persistent urban–rural gap in the EU. Those disparities show up directly in real-estate demand: the same house with fiber and a quiet work nook clears differently than one without.

Inequality and opportunity

Hybrid work’s benefits are unequally distributed. High-skill, services-heavy metros with strong universities retained pricing power; households with space and stable jobs banked the gains; service workers saw fewer downtown shifts. European research underscores that telework is far more common among urban, higher-skill workers, with rural regions lagging—another reason why place-based policies (co-working in market towns, regional tech hubs) matter.

Regional spotlights

United States & Canada

• Population flows: Big-city growth resumed in 2023–2024, aided by international migration. Sun Belt in-flows cooled but stayed positive; some Mountain West “Zoom towns” normalized.

• Offices: Vacancy remains elevated, but prime vs. non-prime divergence widened; conversions and flex are the safety valves.

• Housing: Remote work explains a large share of 2019–2023 price gains; markets with supply elasticity fared better on affordability.

Europe

• Labor patterns: Most employers target three days in office; hybrid is entrenched.

• Offices: Aggregate vacancy up, prime rents resilient, retrofit cycles accelerating as new starts sink. Central London and Paris CBDs out-perform; peripheries struggle.

• Demography: Migration props up populations; UK net migration dropped sharply in 2024 after rule changes—a cooling effect on some rental hotspots.

Asia Pacific

• Offices: APAC vacancy lower than the West; Singapore resilient; Hong Kong stabilizing from a higher vacancy base; mainland China digesting supply.

• Cities: Tokyo re-attracted young workers and graduates in 2023–2024 as office attendance rose from pandemic lows.

• Hybrid culture: Adoption is widespread but skews toward larger firms and urban regions; full-remote remains rarer than in North America.

The coworking and “third place” revolution

Hybrid doesn’t always mean home. Companies increasingly subsidize access to neighborhood coworking to cut commute times without sacrificing culture. For landlords, that creates an additional demand channel—managed suites and spec suites—that can monetize floors in otherwise tough leasing markets. As a barometer, IWG has leaned into the hub-and-spoke model, opening suburban and secondary-city centers where hybrid employees actually live.

What smart cities and investors are doing

1. Double down on quality and mixed-use: Where capital and policy convert older CBD blocks into residential-anchored neighborhoods—with parks, schools, cultural venues—daytime headcount matters less. That supports retail and street life and protects tax bases.

2. Align land use with hybrid reality: Reform zoning to unlock missing-middle housing near transit; streamline conversion approvals; deploy green grants to bridge capex gaps for deep retrofits; price curb and sidewalk space for a seven-day economy. (Europe’s retrofit push offers a playbook.)

3. Wire the periphery: Treat broadband like a 21st-century utility. Regions that deliver fiber-to-the-home and permit small coworking nodes capture higher-income households without adding daily road congestion. The payoff shows up in assessments and entrepreneurship rates.

4. Use flex strategically: Occupiers: trim your core footprint, upgrade it, and ring-fence the rest with flex tied to where teams live. Owners: partner with established operators to diversify demand and shorten lease-up.

What to watch next

• Mandate chess vs. worker power: Large employers continue to tweak return-to-office rules—often toward more days in—yet U.S. WFH days have plateaued in the high-20%s. Expect an extended equilibrium: a hybrid middle with sectoral and regional flavors.

• Prime-secondary bifurcation: The fate of B/C offices—retrofit, convert, or obsolete—will drive cap rates, bank exposures, and downtown streetscapes for years. London’s core hints at one trajectory; outer markets in Europe and the U.S. another.

• Asia’s divergence: Watch Hong Kong and mainland China for signals of stabilization versus further write-downs, and Singapore/Tokyo for tight, talent-magnet dynamics under hybrid norms.

• Visa-shaped flows: Nomad and remote-worker visas will keep nudging demand toward cities that blend lifestyle, safety, tax clarity, and connectivity—from Dubai and Lisbon to Valencia and Tallinn. The housing policy response will determine whether locals see the upside.

Bottom line: A redrawn but recognizable map

Hybrid work didn’t abolish cities, and it didn’t turn every mountain town into a metropolis. It re-priced proximity. Downtowns that offer best-in-class space and urban amenity are resilient; second-tier metros with good schools and fiber saw durable gains; and rural or small-city regions that upgraded digital infrastructure captured slices of the professional class. On the office side, a smaller but better market—prime-weighted, flex-enabled—is replacing the 2019 status quo.

For policymakers, the mandate is clear: make it easy to add homes where people want to live; convert and retrofit where they don’t want to commute five days a week; and wire the periphery so hybrid work can broaden, not narrow, opportunity. For investors, follow quality, follow people, and follow fiber.

Hybrid work didn’t just change calendars. It changed place—and the property markets that make place possible. The world’s new map is still settling, but the contours are here to stay.