The desire for more space is one thing; the ability to get it is another. For some, this choice became more feasible due to other pandemic-related shifts. As I first described some years ago, people's choices around housing represent a trade-off between space, place and price. ﻿[ 3] The widespread shift to working from home reduced the premium on place.
However, research based on US figures shows that this shift has played only a minor part: it appears that the industrial and the services sectors both follow more stable patterns than they did a few decades ago. A second explanation offered for cyclical damping is that ICT developments have led to improved inventory management efficiency.