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Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some housing trends will accelerate, some will come to a halt, and some will spawn entirely new areas of growth, experts said Wednesday during the Urban Land Institute’s virtual fall conference. For example, the migration from cities to suburbs, which millennials led prior to the pandemic, has only sped up; multifamily developers are no longer engaging in amenity wars to attract new residents; and housing trends reflecting health and wellness movements are emerging. “Times of great change always present significant opportunities,” said ULI Global CEO W. Ed Walter. “In the near term, our suburbs will

Exceptionally strong demand, historically low supply and record low mortgage rates are combining to fuel the fastest home price growth since 2018. Nationally, home prices in July were 5.5 percent higher than in 2019. That is a marked increase from the 4.3 percent annual gain seen in June, according to CoreLogic, an analytics provider. Falling mortgage rates helped bolster the pent-up demand from spring, when home sales ground to a halt due to the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell below 3 percent for the first time in July, giving