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Employee Experience

Innovative Housing Solutions for Relocating Employees in High-Cost Cities

The 2025 housing market was among the most challenging that many of us in global mobility have experienced. We saw higher interest rates than we have in well over a decade. Many relocating employees were faced with leaving an affordable 3.5 percent mortgage, to buying in a new location at 6 or 7 percent rates. Those “golden handcuffs” caused many to reconsider or even pass on what otherwise might have been career-changing relocations.

Then, there was the typical pause in real estate markets that comes around election cycles, and a seemingly never-ending uncertainty around fluctuating tariffs. In addition, a tight labor market kept many would-be buyers from making major financial decisions like home purchases.

What will 2026 bring?

None of us have a crystal ball, but here’s what we do know and some advice we give our clients to help balance housing cost containment with employee satisfaction in high-cost cities.

Three common ways to support home sales

Given the challenging environment, it’s not surprising that we’ve seen an uptick in homes our clients acquire through sales that fall through. That uncertainty and stress can keep employees from considering a relocation. We recommend our clients offer at least one type of home sale support to help relocating employees through the sales process. There are three common home sale support options:

  • Guaranteed Offer. Think of this as the “Cadillac” of support. With this offer, the employee knows exactly what they will receive for their home, in the event it doesn’t sell and close.
  • Buyer Value Option. With the “BVO”, your relocation management company engages a market analysis and lists the home with a vetted relocation-specialist agent. The relocation company assumes short-term ownership that allows them to execute and finalize the home sale. We are seeing an increasing number of clients choose BVO support benefits for their employees.
  • Home Marketing. With a home marketing sales support benefit, the employee gets assistance with a market analysis and the help of a relocation-trained agent and is then reimbursed for those expenses upon sale and closing.

Be realistic and flexible

As many cities experience surges in cost of living, increasingly families are seeking out housing in what were considered “cost-friendly’ communities. For example, a rise in demand for affordable housing has prompted many residents to move from cities like Charlotte and San Antonio to Indianapolis and Columbus. However, USA Today notes, that increased demand in many of those areas has caused costs to surge more than 7.5% annually. Mobility managers may need to reassess housing allowances, explore alternative relocation benefits, and negotiate more flexible lease terms to accommodate rising costs.

Conducting a realistic local housing assessment will be increasingly important to understand where “right-priced” housing is in each market and to reduce misalignment in the relocation process. Prepare to offer your relocating employees higher cost of living (COLA) in many areas. We also work with clients to develop more customized and creative packages to enhance the attractiveness of a relocation offer. In addition to home sale assistance, these might include extended benefit timelines that provide employees greater flexibility to determine the best time to list, temporary housing, and bonus or salary adjustments.

Why innovative housing solutions are so important

Housing/mortgage affordability and family-related circumstances, along with challenges selling the origin property, are among the most common reasons that employees decline relocations. Even so, recent survey data shows that employees are still willing to relocate – if the right support is provided.

What might that support look like? Here are a few areas to consider:

  • More frequent cost-of-living adjustments, especially in fast-changing markets.
  • Home sale support that takes the stress and uncertainty of selling off the employee.
  • Increased relocation stipends or temporary housing benefits to insulate employees against initial rent shocks.
  • Partnering with an experienced relocation management company to aid employees in finding stable, reasonably priced housing options.
  • Providing financial wellness resources to relocating employees to help them budget and plan effectively.

Let CapRelo help

With housing costs limiting workforce mobility, companies face significant challenges in relocating talent. CapRelo helps by designing flexible, cost-sensitive relocation packages—including housing assistance and creative benefits—that reduce financial barriers and make moving viable. Let our experienced team help you craft creative, flexible relocation incentives designed to respond to your local market housing conditions.