Return-to-office mandates are forcing homeowners to sell for a loss – or risk losing their jobs – experts warn

Back-to-power mandates are forcing Americans to choose between selling their homes at a loss or losing their jobs, a new survey finds.

According to the real estate company red finthe proliferation of return-to-work policies is encouraging one in ten owners to move.

Real estate agent Shauna Pendleton said she had two clients who sold their Boise, Idaho, homes after just a year because their Seattle-based employer asked them to return to the office.

Because they bought the house when prices were near their peak, they will likely have to sell it at a loss, she said.

“My salespeople both work at the same company, which told them they had to be in the office three days a week or they would lose their jobs. They have six months to make the move,” Pendleton said.

More and more companies are asking their employees to return to work in the office

“They will probably have to take a $100,000 loss on their house. Their new home in Seattle won’t be at all comparable to the size of their property in Boise, and their mortgage rate will be much higher.

The latest data from government-backed lender Freddie Mac shows that a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now hovers at 7.18 percent.

A year ago, a 30-year fixed rate deal averaged 6.02 percent.

With mortgage rates near their highest level in more than two decades, few people are selling their homes, which means many of those who do sell are doing so out of necessity.

A recent survey by Freddie Mac found that 82% of home buyers felt “locked in” to their property. And one in seven homeowners who don’t plan to sell their home cited being locked into a lower mortgage rate as the main reason for staying put.

And Fcharacters from Atlanta Federal Reserve show that affordability has fallen below levels seen during the peak of the housing bubble that preceded the 2008 financial crisis.

Homebuyers are facing the least affordable market since 2006, according to figures from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

The survey comes as a growing number of businesses insist their employees return to the office – after working from home became the norm following the Covid-19 pandemic.

JP Morgan Chase & Co is ordering its managers to return to the office full-time so they can be present for “impromptu meetings” and “immediate feedback.”

Earlier this year, the company took tough action, asking managers to “lead by example” and return to the office five days a week.

“Our leaders play a critical role in strengthening our culture and running our businesses,” read a memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal at the time.

“They need to be visible in the field, they need to meet with customers, they need to teach and advise, and they need to always be accessible for immediate feedback and impromptu meetings,” he continues.

Other companies, including major New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, have told employees that those who do not adhere to the firm’s three-day-a-week policy could have their bonuses reduced .

Last month, the CEO of video conferencing giant Zoom wants his employees to come in at least two days a week – telling staff at a company-wide meeting that they “just can’t have a good conversation” via remote meetings only.

JP Morgan Chase & Co orders managers to return to office full-time to be present for ‘impromptu meetings’ and ‘immediate feedback’

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan wants his employees to come in at least two days a week – telling staff they “just can’t have a good conversation” via remote meetings.

Zoom, the San Jose tech company that transformed work during the Covid-19 pandemic, has now required that any employee living within a 50-mile radius of a Zoom office must clock in at least 40% of the time. time.

“Very often you have good ideas,” Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said at a company meeting in August, “but when we’re all on Zoom, it’s really difficult.”

“We can’t debate well,” Yuan continued, “because everyone tends to be very friendly when you join a Zoom call.”