Return-to-work mand🦂ates are forcing some people to choose between selling their homes at a loss or losing their ꦛjobs.

One in every 10 home sellers is being forced to sell due to return-to-work mandates that require them to return to an office in a different city, according to a new Redfin survey. These sales often result in a monetary loss on the seller's current home and a higher mortgage on the home they purchase, the survey found.

Covert Layoffs Force Employees To Make a Choice

Some companies, such as AT&T (T), are requiring workers to return to the office, with a caveat. These companies downsized the number of offices they owned in an effort to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:consolidate real estate during the pandemic. If em💖ployees no longer live near an office, they had to report to one of the remaining open offices, which could be in another state all toge𒐪ther.

According to CNBC, 90% of companies plan to implement return-to-work policies by the end of the year, potentially affecting the lives of thousands of homeowners. Some companies are becoming less flexible in a stealthy effort to downsize by forcing “covert layoffs."

“A company might use a return-to-office mandate as an opportunity to restructure its workforce,” Dan Schawbel, managing partner at Workplace Intelligence and New York Times bestselling author, told CNBC.

Career advisor and workplace expert Laurie Ruettimann said some of these return-to-work policies are "a cheap and dirty way" for companies to essentially 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:lay off workers without the legal and financial complications that come with them.

Costly Decisions

These policies are forcing homeowners t🅰o make costly decisions.

Shauna Pendleton, a Redfin Premier agent in Boise, Idaho, has two clients who are selling their home after about a year because their Seattle-based employer requires them to return to work. They may have to sell at a loss because they bought when 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:home prices were near their peak.

“My sellers both work at the same company, which told them they have to be in the office three days a week or they’ll lose their jobs," Pendleton said in the Redfin survey press release. "They have six months to make the move. They'll probably have to take a $100,000 loss on their home. Their new house in Seattle won’t be anything close to the size of their property in Boise, and their mortgage rate will be much higher."

Other Relocation Factors

While back-to-office mandates are an emerging cause of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:relocation, it's not the most common reason for moving,

According to the Redfin survey, respondents' most common reasons for relocating are the desire for more space, proximity to family, and a lower 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cost of living. Approximately 20% of sellers surveyed said they are moving due to safety or crime concerns, a desire to live in a neighborhood more aligned with their social views, or lower taxes.

Discrimination in t✨heir neighborhoods and/or concerns a🉐bout climate change were motivators for about 10% of respondents.