Nearly 19% of homebuyers searched outside of a metro in the fourth quarter, according to Redfin. Sacramento, Las Vegas, and the Florida metros are leading the way in immigration trends.
New data from Redfin shows that a significant percentage of homebuyers are still looking beyond their current metropolitan area when looking for a home.
During the fourth quarter, just under one in five homebuyers (18.8%) looked for a home in another region of the country. This is up slightly from 17.9% a year ago and significantly higher than the 15.9% share recorded five years ago.
Mortgage rates have remained just below 3% in 2021, and remote work due to the pandemic has made it possible for many Americans to relocate. Still, the majority of home hunters are currently looking for homes outside of metropolitan areas. Redfin economists say this difference is largely due to the inclusion of metropolitan areas in the analysis.
Sacramento and Las Vegas attract the most relocating buyers
Sacramento, California, and Las Vegas ranked as the most popular relocation destinations for homebuyers in the fourth quarter. This ranking is based on net inflows, a measure of how many Redfin.com users searched for places to move to a metropolitan area rather than leaving.
Four Florida metros followed closely behind: Cape Coral, Northport, Miami and Orlando. All of the top 10 relocation destinations are relatively affordable, especially when compared to markets where many buyers are exiting.
For example, Redfin points out that the typical home in Las Vegas sells for about $435,000, while the typical home in Los Angeles costs about twice that. Many of the most popular destinations also have another draw: warm, sunny weather.
Escape from LA (and New York)
Los Angeles and New York topped the list of major cities homebuyers are moving away from the most. This ranking is based on net outflow, which measures the number of Redfin.com users who searched to move to a metropolitan area.
Three other major employment centers followed: the Bay Area, Seattle, and Chicago. Expensive coastal cities and large employment centers often top the list of places people leave as buyers look for more affordable housing. For example, homebuyers leaving New York often look to Philadelphia, where typical homes cost less than half the price.
Florida remains top draw
At the state level, Florida was the most popular destination for homebuyers in the fourth quarter. Although migration to some of Florida’s metropolitan areas has slowed, the Sunshine State still attracts roughly twice as many Redfin.com home searchers as the second and third most popular destinations, South Carolina and Arizona.
Nevada, Tennessee, Texas and North Carolina followed, continuing the trend of Sunbelt states attracting relocation interest. Idaho, Hawaii and Wisconsin rounded out the top 10.
Meanwhile, California continues to be the state where residents are leaving by the widest margin. This remains true even though fewer Bay Area residents are moving to other large U.S. cities than at the peak of the pandemic migration boom.
New York, Illinois, Washington and Massachusetts were the next most likely states to lose homebuyers, all of which have major job centers with relatively high housing costs.
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