The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way many people live. But it’s also changed the way in which renters search for apartments, according to new research from Point2, a site that covers real estate market trends.
Point2 analyzed Google searches to determine what renters have been looking for when searching for an apartment. Researchers found that certain search phrases appeared in 2020 and 2021 that renters rarely used in years past.
An example? Point2 found that renters during the last two years have increasingly used the phrase “rent relief” when conducting a Google search for apartments. According to Point2, this phrase was included in 90 searches a month in 2019 but 9,900 in 2020 and 49,500 in 2021.
The phrase “eviction moratorium” was searched only 40 times a month in 2019 but 40,500 times a month in 2020 and 201,000 times a month in 2021.
And also in 2020? Point2 said that the keyword “subleasing” increased 22 percent when compared to a year earlier.
