Nearly 1 in 5 House Hunters Looking to Relocate, Redfin Reports
(Photo courtesy of Michael Tucker)
Nearly 19% of house hunters looked to move to a different part of the country in the fourth quarter, according to Redfin, Seattle. The figure is up from 17.9% a year earlier and 15.9% five years ago.
Migration from one part of the country to another ticked up last year as mortgage rates eased and more homes came on the market. “While home sales were still slow, more buyers and renters were able to relocate. Remote work also remains more common than it was before the pandemic, allowing more Americans to relocate for affordability or lifestyle reasons without changing jobs,” the report said.
In 2021, mortgage rates were hovering just under 3% for most of the year and pandemic-fueled remote work was common, driving many people to relocate. While it’s somewhat counterintuitive that a higher share of house hunters are relocating to a different metro now than back then—18.8% compared with 15.9%—Redfin economists say it’s largely due to the large size of the metros in this analysis.
Redfin uses Combined Statistical Areas (CSAs), which are typically made up of several Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). The San Jose-San Francisco CSA, for example, is made up of many surrounding MSAs, including Napa Valley, Santa Cruz and several other places. A remote worker who moved from the city of San Francisco to Napa Valley in 2021 wouldn’t have been considered a “relocator” because those two places are part of the same CSA. That type of move was common during the pandemic.
Sacramento, Las Vegas, Florida Top List of Most Popular Destinations
Sacramento, Calif. and Las Vegas were the most popular destinations for relocating house hunters in the fourth quarter. Next come four Florida metro areas: Cape Coral, North Port, Miami and Orlando.
All 10 of the most popular migration destinations are relatively affordable, especially compared to the places people are most commonly leaving. For instance, the typical home in Las Vegas sells for $435,000, while the typical home in Los Angeles costs twice as much. Additionally, most of the most popular destinations have warm, sunny weather.
People Are Leaving Big-City Job Hubs Behind
Redfin noted house hunters are leaving Los Angeles and New York more than any other major metro.
Next come three other major job centers: the Bay Area, Seattle and Chicago. “It’s typical for expensive coastal cities and employment hubs to top the list of places people are moving away from, as people seek more affordable housing,” the report said. “Homebuyers leaving New York, for instance, often seek out Philadelphia, where buying a home costs less than half the price.”
Homebuyers and renters are also moving away from a few places that don’t fit into the category of big-city job centers: Charlotte, N.C. and Austin, Texas. “Those places both attracted a lot of new residents during the pandemic remote-work era, and now some of those people are moving away as they return to the office,” Redfin noted.
