In this interview, host Winnie Sun asks real‑estate analyst Jason Hartman how the COVID‑19 pandemic, remote‑work trends, and recent civil unrest are reshaping the housing market worldwide. Hartman outlines six megatrends driving a rapid migration away from dense urban cores toward suburban environments. He breaks down the influence of three key demographic cohorts—Baby Boomers, Millennials, and Gen X—on housing demand, emphasizing that Millennials, who once favored walkable city life, are now prioritizing health safety, space, and vehicle access. He identifies elevators and mass‑transit systems as high‑risk zones for disease transmission, prompting a reevaluation of urban living. Remote work is decoupling employment from location, further enabling people to relocate to lower‑density areas. Civil unrest, largely concentrated in cities, adds another layer of risk that accelerates the exodus. Hartman argues that these forces create a “migration tsunami” that presents significant investment opportunities in suburban real‑estate, especially for investors who can anticipate the scale and speed of the shift.
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We are witnessing an amazing time in history right now where things are changing dramatically, they are changing quickly. People's attitudes have changed. So much is changing. And we can go through what I identify as the six mega trends that are influencing real estate in a very significant way. This is not just in the. In California. It's not just in the US it's around the world. This is a global shift, and it is hugely, hugely significant.
People are talking about not only the pandemic, but obviously their shelter is so important. We're talking about budgets, the importance of making sure that you cover your expenses, namely your, you know, your mortgage, your rent or whatever that may look like. And also we've been talking to a lot of clients, talking, saying, you know, my employer isn't expecting me to go back into the office this year. So, Winnie, what does that look like? Should I consider moving into a less populated area? Talk to us, Jason, about real estate and how you think it's changed because of COVID because of this pandemic. I mean, has it impacted what you do for your clients?
Yeah, no question about it, Winnie. And that's a great place to start. The US Is uniquely positioned in this crisis for investors to be able to adapt to it very well. I think we're going to talk a little bit about suburbia, hopefully today, and you live in a suburban place, and I live in a suburban place. And, you know, the past couple of decades, there's really been this mass migration to the cities, to these densely populated areas. Millennials like walkable communities. They like the things that cities have to offer. But now we are seeing the tide changing pretty significantly there, so we can talk about that. And it's not just Covid anymore, of course. Sadly, we are in a time of major civil unrest. So it's kind of like this one, two punch to our lifestyles, our economy. It's a pretty crazy time right now. No one could deny that.
Yeah, absolutely. I think you're so true. I was reading, you know, and have a lot of friends out in New York. And when this was happening, the first thing they did was they started sending me emails, and we were communicating, and I started sending the masks. Right. That was the first thing. The next thing that they did was a lot of people that were in a situation where maybe, like you had mentioned millennials or younger, like, sort of working in the city. It meant if they had the opportunity, they could just pack up and they would go home. Right, right. And a lot of times their parents would live in maybe Dallas, Texas, or in Other parts of the nation where there's less density. Right. Where they could have access to a vehicle, where they could drive instead of taking the subway, where, you know, they're not on top of their neighbors and in a small apartment. So you're absolutely right. I think, you know, as someone who, like, my show is traditionally filmed in New York City, there's something really cool. There's, like, really cool vibe. You can get down to the supermarket, you can see your friends. It's just so convenient. But now sort of putting that, that. That shift, if you will. We thought that shift would happen, I think, when millennials started to have children and as they started developing and having families and needing more space. Right. And Gen Zers right behind them. But you're saying that this obviously, this double punch or even triple punch. Right. There's so many things punching at us right now is causing this shift to be even more. More quickly than maybe we thought, because you actually predicted this several months ago. You talked about the migration tsunami. Right. Do you want to add a little bit?
Yeah, I think I was the first one out there voicing the migration issue, and now everybody's talking about it, so it's not really news anymore. And that's how fast it's changing. You know, living through a pandemic is like. It's like dog years. You know, I have a dog, and every. Every one year for a dog is like seven, or four for us is seven years for a dog. Right. So it's moving very quickly. But just looking at a couple of macro issues before we dive into it, let's look at the demographic cohorts. So, first of all, everybody's talked about the baby boomers for a long, long time. That's about 76 million Americans. And they're over about 56 years old now. 56 plus right. In age. And they are turning 60. They are coming into 65 in retirement at a rapid, rapid pace. Now, that was the biggest demographic cohort, but the millennials eclipsed them slightly. The millennials are 80 million Americans. Okay. And right in between them is my generation, Generation X. Right. Gen X. And we're a small generation. There's only about 46 million of us. Right. And so these two big demographic cohorts, the baby boomers and the millennials, are going to shape the economy in hugely significant ways. The baby boomers already have, and now it's the millennials turn to do that. And so we talked about how the millennials like the cities. They've delayed family formation. They have very different Habits, very different beliefs about so many things in the world, but they've definitely liked the cities. And now we are seeing, since the two big danger zones in cities are elevators and mass transit, those are the two big danger zones where you can't socially distance, okay? We are seeing people much more concerned about their safety. And even if they're not that concerned about their safety, if they think their health is bulletproof and they don't need to worry about that, usually young people, usually millennials, thinking that way, they still don't want to be locked down. And all the benefits of the city, Winnie, are, you know, the great restaurants, the Broadway shows, if you're in New York, right? The entertainment, all of that stuff, the happening energy, it's gone because of the lockdowns. And even as those lockdowns lift, there's still a major, major change. I mean, you know, I've gone out to eat a couple of times over the past week, and, you know, for a couple of months, I mean, maybe the longest in my life, I didn't go to a restaurant. And it's just weird. It's not a very good experience. You know, everybody's wearing a mask, they sound funny. You know, it's just not a very comfortable experience. And I think most of the viewers would probably share that opinion, so we can talk about that. And it's got huge impacts on remote work and roommates and people cohabitating. I mean, that's a giant segment of the population. And America is known for suburbia. Really. Suburbia was invented in the United States in the post World War II baby boom generation around the world. Most of the world is either a city or the country, and there isn't this in between the suburban environment like the U.S. is so famous for, because the U.S. the post World War II era, fell in love with the automobile. And the automobile is really what enabled suburbia to be a thing. And we've all heard of Levittown and, you know, all those developments in the Northeast and so forth. So this really does represent a pretty big opportunity for investors because the idea is to get in front of this tidal wave, in front of this tsunami moving. And it's already starting to happen, and it's becoming very significant, but it's going to be even bigger, and not just because of COVID as we talked about a moment ago. Also, civil unrest, that is largely a city phenomenon. High density areas are suffering the most in this time of civil unrest. Sam.
