HAMLIN, Pa. — The pandemic has changed the way people work, and commuting into cities like New York City and Philadelphia is no longer necessary if they can work from home.
And many of those people are making their second homes permanent ones.
According to the U.S. Postal service, they've seen an increase of change of address requests from major cities to the suburbs and rural areas.
We found several people from New York and New Jersey near Hawley who said they have second homes in the area and are in the process of permanently moving to the area or considering it.
"Actually, because of COVID, we haven't, and also we were doing remodeling, making our home larger here in anticipation of moving here," said Terry Marks of State Island, New York.
Real estate is especially hot in parts of Wayne County near Lake Wallenpaupack and the surrounding areas.
Real estate agents like Eric Smaridge at Century 21 Select Group near Hamlin say the market is a sellers' dream.
"We are one of the hottest real estate areas in the state, not just because of the amenities, it's just because we're not that far off Interstate 84, we're easy to get to," explained Smaridge.
"We paid more for the property, but we didn't think we would have to pay so much for the house, the house prices went so high," added Kathleen Adam of Orange County, New York. "We're not building yet. The prices just skyrocketed."
On average, houses are only lasting a few days on the market, and realtors say you better act quickly.
"A lot of sales are cash sales. This is unheard of; you know, people aren't just going for mortgages anymore. They're just coming up with the cash and buying these houses," said Larry Ditty of Century 21 Select Group.
There are other things that could be affected by people changing their address permanently to the area increased enrollment of students.
Two districts in the area they said they haven't seen a major spike yet, but it's possible that could change for the next school year.