The holiday season is upon us. This means Christmas decorations going up before Halloween is over. It means endless replays of movies, such as Christmas Vacation and Elf. It also means that Christmas music will be playing everywhere you go until the end of the year.
According to Wikipedia, "Please Come Home for Christmas" is a Christmas song, written in 1960 and released the same year by American blues singer and pianist Charles Brown. Hitting the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1961, it appeared on the Christmas Singles chart for nine seasons, hitting number 1 in 1972.
Source: YouTube.com
In 1978, the rock band Eagles covered and released the song as a holiday single. Their version peaked at number 18 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the first Christmas song to reach the Top 20 on that chart since 1963. The song has been covered by numerous artists from many genres of music including Bon Jovi, Martina McBride, Kelly Clarkson, and Harry Connick Jr.
Source: dailymotion.com
A YouTube link to the Eagles version is included below for your listening pleasure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFWe2aVrIbo
In what appears to be another unexpected consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, recent data shows a sudden change in people’s homebuying patterns. For many years, people selling their homes and buying a new one generally stayed in close geographic proximity. Data shows that families generally purchased their next home within 10 to 20 miles of their existing home…that is, until 2020.
Now that people have the freedom to work remotely, they are finding their next home much further away. People who are selling their homes and buying a new one are averaging moves of up to 90 miles away, as you can see in the chart below.
Most employers expected work from home to be temporary. Once the pandemic was over, they assumed their employees would be back in the office. However, given the tight labor market, many employers are continuing to allow their employees to work from home, at least part of the time.
As is usually the case, there are many implications for the real estate industry, cities, and the economy moving forward. Since people do not have to live close to where they work, many big cities may lose residents. This could impact everything from where restaurants are located, to the amount of tax revenue big cities bring in to support services, such as police, fire, and government-based pensions.
This could be important in the years to come. Like a rock thrown into a pond, the ripples may reverberate outwards in ways we do not yet understand. We think it is important to stay on top of such trends, as there will likely be significant economic implications.
As you ask your friends and relatives to please come home for Christmas, remember that it may take them a little longer to get there, since there is a chance they are driving a much further distance. As always, we wish you a happy and blessed holiday season. We hope this association of economic data and Christmas music brings a smile to your face as we continue “Moving Life Forward”.
© 2022 Jesse Hurst
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