As with every other aspect of American life in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic dominated the real estate industry that year – it wreaked havoc in the markets, shattered our ingrained routines and traditions at home, changed the way we move, and left us with an uncomfortable awareness that 2021 can be just as unpredictable.
Here on the New York Times Real Estate Desk, many of our most-read articles this year have come out of the pandemic, whether exploring its challenges or offering ideas to try to isolate isolation a little less.
But then, like everyone else in this unsurpassed year of turmoil and confusion, we also tried to reserve some of our attention on ideas and problems that would otherwise have been obscured by the all-consuming breadth of the pandemic. Some of our readers' favorites in 2020 were fun distractions on how to be a better gardener, while others highlighted worrying trends in the industry, like our story of racial discrimination in the ratings industry. Some, like our guide for aspiring expatriates, published just before Covid-19 and making international travel virtually impossible, are worth revisiting as the end is in sight and people are hoping to resume their pre-pandemic lives .
Here are some of our most-read articles from 2020:
