This year has been a moving experience. For one thing, it has been mentally taxing, what with the virus and all. For another, more people than ever are switching addresses -- many as they try to get away from the maddening crowds and put down roots where life is more tranquil, if not safer.

In August, Toni Church and Marquil Jones-Walker moved from their place near downtown Wichita, Kansas, to rural Mulvane, a community of about 6,500 people about 20 miles south of the city. “We liked going downtown,” Church told me. “We’re still not too far away, but being away from people is better.”

Most of all, though, the soon-to-be married couple liked the fact that they qualified for a nothing-down mortgage from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. More on that in a moment. First, let’s look at the latest trends in moving, which include a definite shift from urban to rural areas.

That’s not to say big cities are dead; many experts believe they’ll make a comeback. But for now, homebuyers are heading out -- and out, and farther out.

For example, online networking service LinkedIn reports that between April and August, net new arrivals were down 23% in New York City, 21% in the San Francisco Bay Area and nearly 11% in Seattle. At the same time, Jacksonville, Florida, enjoyed almost an 11% gain in net arrivals, Salt Lake City scored nearly a 10% gain, and Sacramento registered a 7.6% jump.

U.S. Postal Service data shows similar trends. Change-of-address requests analyzed by Bankrate found that, for the most part, people who moved farther out still stayed in the same metropolitan areas. The most popular destination for folks leaving Houston was Katy, Texas, about 30 miles away. For those leaving Dallas in their rearview mirrors, Mesquite, Texas, about a dozen miles out, was the top terminus.

Coldwell Banker lumps movers into three groups: “Explorers” looking in the exurbs and “hidden gem” towns where they can stretch their dollars; “New Suburbanites” who seek personal space, including dual home offices, a bedroom for each child and perhaps a dose of city culture; and “Resorters” who are relocating to famous destinations to begin a whole new lifestyle.

Of course, there are other reasons to move. Many people are simply changing jobs. Others are fleeing areas prone to natural disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says people tend to switch employment every four years. And a recent Redfin survey found that more than 1 in 4 people want to move from their current hometowns because of a recent flood, fire or storm.

But data from Realtor.com shows more people are searching for property outside their home metros. “Urbanites,” says research analyst Sabrina Speianu, “are increasingly looking to move to suburban areas.”

(At the same time, some young adults are moving back in. Not into the city, but in -- as in, back in with their folks. Pew Research says they’re heading back to the nest at unprecedented rates: In July, 52% of young adults resided with one or both of their parents, boosting the total to 2.6 million.)

If you’re among the many who are hunkering for more wide-open spaces, you may want to consider the kind of financing Church and Jones-Walker corralled. It’s one of the few government-backed loans available solely in rural and exurban locations. And it is booming.

According to the latest figures from the USDA’s Rural Development agency, the number of loans under its single-family guaranteed loan program at the midyear mark is up 38% from the same point a year ago. And the dollar volume of those loans is up 55%.

“It’s a great program” for people who want to be outside the city limits, says Church and Jones-Walker’s loan officer, Planet Home Lending’s Michelle Crubaugh.

Actually, Rural Development offers a variety of loans, grants and loan guarantees for those who want to build, buy or improve single and multi-family properties.

Under the guaranteed loan program, the government provides a 90% guarantee to approved lenders to reduce the risk of extending 100% mortgages. But there are limits based on family size and income. Folks who have moderate incomes -- 115% of the national median -- qualify.

In the greater Boston metro area, two-, three- and four-person households earning up to $154,900 qualify. And in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida, metro, two- to four-person households making up to $90,300 make the cut.

Under the USDA’s Section 502 direct loan program, Uncle Sam makes 100% loans to applicants whose incomes are no greater than the low-income limit for their areas and are unable to obtain financing elsewhere. Generally, houses can be no more than 1,800 square feet with a market value that doesn’t exceed the applicable loan limit.

If your intent is to buy some land along with a house, you might want to consider financing from Farmer Mac, a little known government-sponsored enterprise similar to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was chartered in 1988 to increase the availability of long-term credit for ranchers, farmers and rural homebuyers.

Like Fannie and Freddie, Farmer Mac doesn’t make loans directly. Rather, it buys loans made by local lenders. And among the loans it purchases are those for part-time “hobby” farmers who just want to dabble in raising or growing almost anything.

Eligible properties must be owner-occupied, single-family detached residences, or second homes with enough acreage to support agricultural production. There are no geographic restrictions, and you can buy as much land as you like. If the property is less than five acres -- not a lot of ground in many rural markets -- you must produce at least $5,000 annually. If the land is more than five acres, there is no such restriction.

Despite lifelines thrown their way by Congress, the Urban Institute counts roughly 400,000 homeowners who are delinquent on their mortgages, but who have failed to take advantage of any payment forbearance programs.

Perhaps they fear being forced to make up their missed payments in one lump sum when they start paying again. Or maybe they don’t understand the options available to them under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. A poll by Fannie Mae found that 1 in 5 aren’t even aware that help is available.

Whatever the reason, these people need to know their options. Sure, they can continue failing to make their house payments and eventually lose their homes. That’s their choice.

But if they have a mind to, they can save their homes by asking their lenders -- or the servicing companies that collect their payments and pay their property taxes and insurance -- for some relief. Practically all you have to do is ask.

Under the law, borrowers who can testify that they have a financial hardship related to COVID-19 are eligible for help if their loans were purchased by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae. If you qualify, you can defer your payments for six months to start, and extend that another six months if you still need some time to get your financial act together.

And contrary to what nearly 70% of the people questioned by the National Housing Resource Center believe, you don’t have to make up the missed payments all at once. Indeed, lump-sum repayment is just one option. You can stretch out the missed payments over time, add them to your loan balance or pay them when you sell or pay off your mortgage.

Meanwhile, the Urban Institute also reports that some 205,000 homeowners have not extended their forbearance after their terms ended in June or July -- and are now delinquent on their loans.

Prior to the election earlier this month, numerous Americans swore they’d be escaping to Canada if their candidate didn’t win. But a good number of our wealthier citizens have already hightailed it to the U.K. instead.

According to figures from Enness Global Mortgages, buyers from the States have accounted for 14% of high-end home sales in Britain so far this year. They trail only those from United Arab Emirates, who represented 35% of England’s international buyers so far this year.

Enness doesn’t say what constitutes “high-end,” or whether these were permanent or vacation homes, but the average price paid by Americans was more than $4.7 million. (Impressive, but people from Malaysia paid more: just over $6.6 million, on average.)

Another interesting stat: The typical American down payment was a substantial 51%. Buyers from Nigeria didn’t spend as much in total, but they put 72% down.

Meanwhile, foreign investment in U.S. housing is down 5% from a year ago, the National Association of Realtors reports. It was the second straight year for declining foreign investment. But even at that, foreigners still plunked down $74 billion to buy existing houses here over the last 12 months.

Chinese and Canadians were the most active foreign buyers, followed by Mexicans, Indians and Colombians.

Foreclosure isn’t the instant process many people think it is. It takes time. How much time? That depends on the state.

If you can’t pay your mortgage in Hawaii, it will take an average of 1,741 days -- nearly five years! -- before your lender can actually repossess your property, according to ATTOM Data Solutions.

It takes almost as long in New Jersey and New York: 1,527 days and 1,423 days, respectively. In Florida, it takes 1,230 days. No wonder some people who can make their house payments don’t do so -- you can live for practically nothing in these states for four years or more.

Even in Virginia, the state with the shortest foreclosure timeline, it takes a full six months to remove a nonpaying borrower.

If you’re worried about the climate where you’re looking for a new house, there’s now an app for that. Just plug in the address and ClimateCheck.com will produce a extensive report telling you, among other things, the risk for storms, higher temperatures, drought, flood and fire. It will also give you an overall risk score.

According to the 34-page report I received, the overall risk score on my house is just 28. But my place is at a very high risk for storms -- a small EF-1 tornado recently touched down about 500 feet away -- and high risk for rising temperatures. The report is free, at least for now. (Full disclosure: ClimateCheck is headed by Cal Inman, who I’ve known for years; he’s the son of Brad Inman, who operates a real estate-centric news service for which I wrote until recently.)

Two relatively small housing submarkets are starting to show signs of strengthening. One of those markets: renters looking for more space, both inside and out. The other: people looking to get away from it all, if only for a few weeks.

Renters should soon see more opportunities to lease brand-new houses specifically built as rentals, while buyers of vacation homes are already flexing their purchasing-power muscles.

The built-to-rent market is, indeed, small. Currently, only about 6% of all single-family houses are purposefully built as rentals, working out to about 70,000 houses a year. But that’s not enough to keep up with demand, according to RCLCO, a Maryland-based advisory firm that says built-to-rent housing represents a big opportunity for its clients.

Other consulting firms have been saying the same. One, Meyers Research, has suggested that big master-planned communities should contain entire neighborhoods of rental houses. And the National Rental Home Council expects demand to surge.

“For many Americans, the pandemic has brought a new urgency to the search for housing, and many are discovering the benefits associated with renting a single-family home,” said Executive Director David Howard of NRHC. “Suddenly, living in a small apartment in an urban high-rise isn’t as appealing for families navigating the realities of working and schooling from home.”

If builders get the message, the trend will be just another step in the evolution of rentals as they break away from the traditional multifamily mold.

Originally, small-time investors with one or two houses dominated the sector -- and still do, for the most part. But since the recovery from the Great Recession, large institutional investors have acquired portfolios of unsold houses scattered across the landscape and turned them into rentals.

Some 12 million families currently live in detached one-unit rentals -- nearly as many as the 14.5 million who reside in buildings of 10 or more apartments. Now, Tricon Residential, one of the early investors in the space, is buying up single-family lots and partnering with local builders to deliver rental properties. American Homes 4 Rent, another large institutional owner, is doing much the same. And NexMetro has now closed on its 30th Avilla property, which are communities of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes.

RCLCO’s Gregg Logan and Todd LaRue say the demand is being driven by demographic shifts in which more households are in a stage of life where a house suits their needs best. But while these families would ordinarily be buyers, they are hampered by affordability issues that are not likely to dissipate anytime soon.

Afforability is just one factor, though. Renting offers much more flexibility than owning. Not only do renters not have to tie up their nest egg in real estate, they also can move from place to place without having to sell the old homestead. And they can sometimes find affordable rentals closer to city centers than they could find affordable, comparable homes for sale.

Meanwhile, second-home markets, especially those within a four-hour drive of major metro regions, are booming, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting.

The sector is benefiting, Burns researchers say, from a rise in what they call the “YOLO” mindset -- You Only Live Once -- as people try to get away and enjoy life as safely as possible during the pandemic.

“Households who may have otherwise waited have decided now is the time to buy, often using funds that would otherwise be allocated to more traditional vacation travel,” they explained in a recent bulletin to clients. “Today’s buyers are showing more interest in lifestyle and use than rental potential and future appreciation.”

To prove their point, the researchers pointed to some remarkable sales figures from across the country. In July, the Sierra-Tahoe Multiple Listing Service logged its highest residential dollar volume in history, up more than 200% year-over-year. Sales at Long Cove, an upscale lakeside community south of Dallas, reached an all-time high in June -- then bested that in July. Pending home sales in Bend, Oregon, rose 150% year-over-year in July. Sales in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, doubled compared to the same time last year, fueled by demand from New York and New Jersey. And in Worcester County, Maryland, sales were up 104% above last July.

The key to most of these numbers seems to be proximity. Most buyers of second homes, particularly those with school-age children, prefer to drive less than four hours to get there. They desire a getaway house to “invest in family,” and to provide a place of refuge for the future.

In some cases, since many parents can work remotely and children can learn online, the vacation spot actually switches places with the main residence. This flips the traditional “weekend home” model on its head, with families staying at their vacation home most of the time and occasionally traveling back to their primary residence.

Elements such as high-speed internet, home offices and learning spaces for children have become just as important in second homes as in primary ones, now that some owners measure second-home stays in weeks and months, rather than days.