Most Who Bought Cape Cod Homes During Pandemic Staying Year-Round

BARNSTABLE, MA — More than 60 percent of people who bought homes on Cape Cod during the coronavirus pandemic plan to stay year-round, according to a survey released last month by the Cape Cod Commission.

The Cape Cod Commission worked with the UMass Donahue Institute and the Center for Public Opinion at the University of Massachusetts Lowell to conduct the survey and better understand people's reasons for buying Cape Cod homes during the pandemic. Data was collected between April 2020 and May 2021.

"This research is a critical first step in understanding what is driving the choices of new homeowners in the region and provides policymakers and planners with the ability to revisit these trends in the coming years as residential and work patterns stabilize," the commission said on its website.

A postcard with a link to an online survey was sent to a random sample of 5,850 homes out of the roughly 6,800 homes purchased during the pandemic. The commission sent reminders to those sampled a few weeks later, it said. Seven percent, or 403 homeowners, completed the survey.

The survey showed the following information about those who bought homes on Cape Cod during the coronavirus pandemic.

• 61 percent of new homeowners planned to live on Cape Cod year-round.
• 70 percent of those who bought homes were over 55.
• 79 percent of respondents bought single-family homes.
• 52 percent previously owned property on Cape Cod.

The top five towns people bought homes in were Barnstable, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Mashpee and Brewster.

Economic Demographics Of Pandemic Homebuyers

Most Cape Cod pandemic homebuyers had relatively high incomes, with more than half of respondents saying they had incomes of more than $150,000 per year.

Given the rise in remote work during the pandemic, the survey also asked about people's current and predicted employment status and where they worked.

At the time of purchase, 69 percent of respondents were employed, and more than two-thirds of those employed worked outside Cape Cod. Forty-two percent of respondents said they worked remotely, but in six months that number was expected to drop to 24 percent, according to the commission.

The top fields new homeowners worked in were professional and technical services, health care and social assistance, education, finance and insurance, and information, media or telecommunications.

Why Cape Cod?

Thirty-five percent of survey respondents said COVID-19 influenced their decision to buy a home on Cape Cod. The commission said the most common ways the pandemic influenced their decision to move were the ability to work remotely, the desire to live near outdoor recreation and in a less dense area, and wanting more living space.

"Cape Cod’s amenities, such as access to the coast, outdoor recreational opportunities, and environmental quality, were the most important factors new homeowners considered when buying here (regardless of whether the pandemic influenced their plans or not)," the commission said. "School quality, job and economic opportunities, and being in a good place to raise children were generally not important factors in respondents’ decisions."

Since moving, respondents said they frequently used town beaches and conservation lands and libraries, but rarely used public transportation, senior centers, town boat landings or public golf courses.