Yeah, part of this may be that one- and two-bedroom apartments are undesirable during a pandemic.

I know it's a sentiment I've expressed to friends and family: I bought a house last year and I've repeatedly thought "boy I'm sure glad I'm trapped in a single-family home with a nice backyard for a year, rather than in my old apartment for a year". I would have been climbing the walls there.

Of course there are more factors in single-family home prices as well: interest rates are directly tied to how much money people can afford to borrow, so the rate reductions this summer drive a surge in housing prices, and generally the fed injected a ton of money into the financial system that is sloshing around looking for safe places to park, and housing is a very safe place to do that. There are a lot of properties being bought up by investment firms to rent out.

My theory on that is that people are spooked by the virus and want to remain isolated. That and living in a smaller apartment isn’t that much fun when you have to spend all your time in it versus going out to eat or meet friends.