Rural home prices rise as people consider leaving cities during pandemic

New data from Realtor.com suggests that people may be increasingly interested in moving to rural areas during the pandemic.

The data, "which compared this June to June of 2019, found that homes in rural and suburban zip codes saw the biggest jump in average views per property," Dante Chinni reports for NBC News. "Homes in urban zip codes had a 19 percent increase in views compared to last year. But homes in suburban zip codes had a much larger 30 percent jump. And homes in rural zip codes saw a 34 percent increase in views."

Chinni cautions that property views don't necessarily translate to sales, and it's difficult to imagine the pandemic reversing the larger trend toward urban migration. "But these numbers show there is at least an interest in getting out of the most densely packed areas and into communities that are more spread out. Anecdotal evidence suggests some of it may be about searching for second-home getaways in more remote communities," Chinni reports.