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Falling House Prices in Chicago Show the Toll of Remote Work and Crime

Falling House Prices in Chicago Show the Toll of Remote Work and Crime

Home prices in Chicago, but not in the suburbs, have been declining all year, a warning sign that work from home and a seemingly intractable crime problem are hurting the city’s real estate market. Another related factor: “Work from home is a really big deal,” says Andrew Hanson, an economist and associate professor in the Stuart Handler Department of Real Estate.

Since COVID and the subsequent work-from-home permissiveness severed the link between work and workplace, Professor Hanson says, “cities with long commutes are the ones that have been most impacted — New York, San Francisco, Chicago. Before the pandemic, Chicago had some long commute times.”