A lot of the value is tied up in the land, because they aren’t really making any more of it, and location is everything. You could maybe move out to the middle of the desert surrounded by miles of nothing and get cheaper property, but then you have to figure out where you get the basics of life, like food, water, electric.

Remote work has disrupted countryside housing markets too, since workers moving in make much higher salaries than locals, who often lack the skills for picking up those jobs. A trickle out of metro areas in the millions is a tsunami for towns with population in the thousands.