A Record Share of U.S. Homebuyers Are Looking to Relocate as Prices Skyrocket

A Record Share of U.S. Homebuyers Are Looking to Relocate as Prices Skyrocket

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With home prices up 16% from a year ago and mortgage rates rising, many Americans are searching for homes in more affordable areas. 

The share of homebuyers moving from one part of the country to another is at a record high. Nationwide, 32.3% of Redfin.com users looked to relocate in January and February. That’s up from 31.5% in the first quarter of 2021 and up significantly from 26% in 2019, before the pandemic began. 

The latest migration analysis is based on a sample of about two million Redfin.com users who searched for homes across 111 metro areas in January and February, excluding searches unlikely to precede an actual relocation or home purchase. To be included in this dataset, a Redfin.com user must have viewed at least 10 homes in a particular metro area, and homes in that area must have made up at least 80% of the user’s searches. Redfin’s migration data goes back to 2017. We published January homebuyer migration data last month; the data in this report includes both January and February. 

Homebuyers are relocating at a record rate largely because remote work is allowing many Americans the freedom to live in relatively affordable areas, with metros like Miami and Phoenix topping the list of places people are moving to. With U.S. home prices up 16% year over year in February and mortgage rates jumping from last year’s record lows, many homebuyers are priced out of their local markets. One of the only options is relocating to a more affordable area, particularly for first-time buyers who aren’t able to use proceeds from selling one home to buy another. 

“Phoenix is a hotspot for out-of-town homebuyers. Some of them are relocating permanently, some are buying vacation homes and some are investors who turn the homes into rentals,” said Phoenix Redfin agent Heather Mahmood-Corley. “I recently worked with a young couple that’s turning their Seattle condo into a rental and moving to Phoenix because they can work remotely and afford a single-family home here.”

“As for the investors, it’s not just corporations coming to Phoenix—it’s individuals, too,” Mahmood-Corley continued. “They realize they can buy three rental properties here for the price of one in San Francisco. It’s a side hustle for some and a retirement plan for others.”

Buyers are flocking to Miami, Phoenix and Tampa

Miami was the most popular destination for homebuyers looking to relocate in January and February, unchanged from the second half of 2021. That’s measured by net inflow, or how many more Redfin.com users looked to move into an area than leave. 

Next came Phoenix, Tampa, FL, Sacramento, CA and Las Vegas. Sunny, relatively affordable metro areas perennially top the list of places homebuyers are looking to move. The trend has grown even stronger over the last year as remote work has become permanent for many Americans. Net inflow increased from last year in four of the top five destinations (Las Vegas is the exception). 

“With out-of-towners driving up home prices in Phoenix, a lot of local first-time buyers have bowed out of the market,” Mahmood-Corley said. “They just don’t have the cash to compete, especially when there’s such limited inventory. Oftentimes, the only homes that are both available and affordable are too far out of town for them.”

Top 10 Metros by Net Inflow of Users and Their Top Origins
Rank Metro* Net Inflow, January and February 2022 Net Inflow, January and February 2021 Portion of Searches from Users Outside the Metro, January and February 2022 Portion of Searches from Users Outside the Metro, January and February 2021 Top Origin Top Out-of-State Origin

 

1 Miami, FL 13,835 7,503 34.5% 32.0% New York, NY New York, NY
2 Phoenix, AZ 12,501 10,455 38.1% 38.9% Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles, CA
3 Tampa, FL 9,052 6,003 50.0% 60.2% Orlando, FL Washington, DC
4 Sacramento, CA 7,936 7,184 42.4% 48.0% San Francisco, CA Seattle, WA
5 Las Vegas, NV 7,911 9,094 44.2% 53.1% Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles, CA
6 Cape Coral, FL 6,620 5,631 67.3% 76.8% Chicago, IL Chicago, IL
7 North Port, FL 5,970 3,976 66.4% 79.5% Chicago, IL Chicago, IL
8 Dallas, TX 5,429 7,790 25.9% 33.3% Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles, CA
9 San Antonio, TX 5,373 3,238 44.7% 48.2% Austin, TX Los Angeles, CA
10 Atlanta, GA 4,820 7,403 20.4% 26.8% New York, NY New York, NY

 

*Combined statistical areas with at least 500 users in January and February 2022

†Among the two million users sampled for this analysis only

Buyers are moving away from coastal California and New York

More homebuyers looked to leave San Francisco than any other metro in January and February. That’s measured by net outflow, or how many more Redfin.com users looked to leave an area than move in. 

Next came Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C. and Seattle. Expensive coastal metros typically top the list of metros homebuyers are looking to leave, a trend that has grown stronger with the pandemic. Significantly more Redfin.com users looked to leave San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Seattle in January and February than a year earlier. 

Top 10 Metros by Net Outflow of Users and Their Top Destinations
Rank Metro* Net Outflow, January and February 2022 Net Outflow, January and February 2021 Portion of Local Users Searching Elsewhere, January and February 2022 Portion of Local Users Searching Elsewhere, January and February 2021 Top Destination Top Out-of-State Destination

 

1 San Francisco, CA 45,463 35,565 23.9% 24.2% Sacramento, CA Seattle, WA
2 Los Angeles, CA 30,999 23,553 18.7% 18.4% San Diego, CA Phoenix, AZ
3 New York, NY 25,240 38,104 27.5% 34.7% Miami, FL Miami, FL
4 Washington, DC 21,322 14,245 16.9% 14.7% Salisbury, MD Salisbury, MD
5 Seattle, WA 20,568 8,490 18.9% 16.4% Phoenix, AZ Phoenix, AZ
6 Boston, MA 11,743 4,001 18.9% 14.9% Portland, ME Portland, ME
7 Chicago, IL 8,869 8,161 14.4% 13.7% Cape Coral, FL Cape Coral, FL
8 Denver, CO 4,016 6,279 27.6% 29.9% Chicago, IL Chicago, IL
9 Portland, OR 2,444 -542 18.4% 17.6% Seattle, WA Seattle, WA
10 Minneapolis, MN 2,150 -437 25.2% 20.7% Chicago, IL Chicago, IL

 

*Combined statistical areas with at least 500 users in January and February 2022

†Among the two million users sampled for this analysis only

 

Dana Anderson

Dana Anderson

As a data journalist at Redfin, Dana Anderson writes about the numbers behind real estate trends. Redfin is a full-service real estate brokerage that uses modern technology to make clients smarter and faster. For more information about working with a Redfin real estate agent to buy or sell a home, visit our Why Redfin page.

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