In the long run pop growth is important. But the reason we have weak native population growth is women are delaying children and marriage or not marrying at all. So that is bullish for the market as single women earn more and for a longer time than their married peers, and may also buy a house or condo and live alone. The technical term for this trend is a decrease in household size. Even when they do have children, once a woman hits three kids daycare usually is more expensive than working at even a upper middle class job. But this happens much less often. So instead of a one income couple with three kids we have more dual income couples with one kid who use that double income to bid up rents and house prices.
The work from home trend is also bullish and i think enough to offset the population issue. When you work from home you need more space and have more to spend on it without commuting expenses. I wonder if work from home people will prefer urban or outer suburban areas. You could feel really isolated out in the burbs if you never leave for work and prefer somewhere with street life and walkable amenities. On the other hand, you no longer need to live close to a job center.
