The pandemic has caused more Americans to rethink where they want to call home. In many regions, suburban and rural areas are seeing stronger recoveries from the pandemic than their nearby urban areas, according to a new report from realtor.com®.

In May, online listing views at realtor.com® in suburban ZIP codes rose by 13%, nearly double the pace of growth of urban areas. More than half of the nation’s 100 largest metros are seeing rising interest in the suburbs, realtor.com® reports.

“This migration to the suburbs is not a new trend, but it has become more pronounced this spring,” says Javier Vivas, realtor.com®’s director of economic research. “After several months of shelter-in-place orders, the desire to have more space and the potential for more people to work remotely are likely two of the factors contributing to the popularity of the burbs.”

In recent years, suburban areas have started to outpace urban areas in growth in terms of views per property at realtor.com®. May data marks the second largest gap between suburban and urban views since realtor.com® began tracking such data in 2016. Listing views per property in rural and suburban ZIP codes were up an average of 16 and 13% annually, respectively. Views per property in urban areas, on the other hand, were up 7% year over year.

“Suburban interest typically peaks during the summer, as families look to move before the start of the school year,” says Vivas. “However, suburban interest in May outpaced last year’s July peak, which could indicate even stronger interest in the suburbs as summer homebuying season continues to heat up.”

Realtor.com® reports the following top 10 metros saw suburban listing views are seeing the largest year-over-year increases:

1. McAllen, Texas, is shifting toward Mission (ZIP: 78572)
2. Oklahoma City, Okla., is shifting toward Norman (ZIP: 73072)
3. Augusta, Ga., is shifting toward Aiken (ZIP: 29801)
4. Fresno, Calif., Is shifting toward Kingsburg (ZIP: 93631)
5. Minneapolis is shifting toward Andover (ZIP: 55304)
6. Durham, N.C., is shifting toward Rougemont (ZIP: 27572)
7. Raleigh, N.C., is shifting toward Clayton (ZIP: 27527)
8. Colorado Springs, Colo., is shifting toward Peyton (ZIP: 80831)
9. Greensboro, N.C., is shifting toward Brown’s Summit (ZIP: 27214)
10. Knoxville, Tenn., is shifting toward Louden (ZIP: 37774)

Landlords are taking retail tenants to court for missed rental payments. Some property owners who didn’t receive payments in April and May are filing lawsuits to try to collect on them now that they’re past their 30-day grace period, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Tenants are arguing “force majeure”—an effect outside of their control, in this case the global pandemic—is preventing them from making their payments. They contend that their leases should be modified due to the shutdowns in many states that forced some businesses to close.

However, landlords are countering that the pandemic does not qualify them to miss payments, regardless if they’re experiencing fewer customer sales.

Big-name retailers like Gap Inc. and PetSmart Inc. as well as the retail arm of the National Basketball Association are among those being taken to court and accused of breach of contract for withholding rent. Simon Property Group, the nation’s largest mall owner, sued Gap last week over unpaid rent for April, May, and June, adding up to about $66 million in owed payments.

“It’s important to note the profound effect that COVID has had on shopping centers as well, leaving them closed to us and our customers for months,” Mark Daniel Snyder, communications manager at Gap, told The Wall Street Journal. He said he hoped Gap and the landlords could reach a mutual, fair agreement over the rent dispute.

“People are at loggerheads on how to resolve this,” Gene Spiegelman, vice chairman at Ripco Real Estate, a property brokerage, told The Wall Street Journal. “Landlords and tenants are going to take it out on each other.”

Tenants are also starting to file lawsuits. For example, The Wall Street Journal reports that some tenants are suing insurance companies that are denying their business interruption claims or they’re filing summons to their landlords to invalidate leases and let them out of their rental obligations.

As states begin to reopen, many workers are hesitating as their workplaces unlock their doors. About one-third of employees—35% recently surveyed—say they prefer to continue working from home permanently, according to a new survey conducted in late May by CreditCards.com.

Workers showed a preference for working from home even though they say it is costing them more. Remote workers surveyed say their regular expenses have increased by $108, reflecting an increase in groceries and utilities, even if they are saving on child care, gas or public transportation, and clothing and dry cleaning costs. Millennials found it even more costly—an increase of $208 above their regular monthly expenses.

“Surprisingly, average expenses have gone up for people working from home, but it’s a trade-off most are happy with,” says Ted Rossman, an industry analyst with CreditCards.com. “Most workers seem content to skip the commute and potentially work in their pajamas, even if it means spending more on food and utilities.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic first struck the U.S., about one-third of employed U.S. adults were estimated to have been able to work from home.

While 35% of survey respondents said they want to work from home permanently, according to the survey, the majority are in favor of a hybrid office and home setup. Eighty-two percent of employees said they would like to work from home at least two days per week (that includes respondents who mostly said they would like to work from home full-time). Twenty-one percent of respondents said they would like to work from home four days or more per week, and only 7% of respondents said they wanted to work from home just one day per week.

The commercial sector is working to predict what trends will surface in office space needs post-pandemic. Leasing and investment sales activity reportedly is gradually coming back in some areas as states reopen. Robert Cleary, senior vice president specializing in the office sector with Colliers International, told the National Real Estate Investor that he believes suburban office markets will see a pickup in activity. Satellite offices likely will grow in demand as an alternative to trekking to urban locales.

Jonathan Stravutz with SDB-BIOC Commercial says he expects employees will switch between working from home and the office, at least in the interim. He believes that typically only 30% of office space will be occupied at a time, and the trend likely will continue until a vaccine for the coronavirus is found. He expects more sublet space to come onto the market. But real estate pros also report some office tenants are leveraging an advantage in negotiating deals to still scoop up space in prime urban spots during the pandemic.

“Most occupiers are evaluating their current and future space needs to support both an increasingly remote workforce and less office density for health and safety reasons,” Dennis Hearst, senior vice president in the advisory and transactions services group with CBRE, told the National Real Estate Investor. He remains optimistic. “The unmatched value of a dedicated space for commercial innovation and professional collaboration will endure, even if some long-term design changes occur,” he adds.

The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it would keep its benchmark interest rate near zero through 2022—a move that could set the course for record low mortgage rates for the next three years. The Fed’s key rate doesn’t directly affect mortgage rates, but it often influences them. The federal funds rate is what banks charge one another for short-term borrowing.

The Fed’s decision was a response to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fed also announced it will continue to increase its bond holdings to help preserve the flow of credit. “The Federal Reserve’s view that a rate hike will not occur for three years is a signal to the market to expect an all-in accommodative monetary policy,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS®. “It is also very likely that the Fed will be aggressively purchasing mortgage-backed securities behind the scenes.”

Yun says that could help push mortgage rates even lower—at or near 3%—for an extended period of time. “If inflation, for an unexpected reason, should pop up, then mortgage rates will rise independent of the Fed, as loans need to compensate for the loss of purchasing power of the dollar—which happened during the 1970s,” Yun says. But as of now, rates are expected to remain low, and that could be a boon for home buyers.