Phoenix, Las Vegas and Sacramento are among the most popular destinations as remote work allows people the freedom to move from expensive job centers to more affordable areas.
Nationwide, 31.1% of Redfin.com users looked to move to a different metro in the second quarter, up from 27.6% during the same time period last year.
Movement from one part of the country to another started rising with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic as remote work allowed homebuyers to prioritize affordability and living near family and friends above proximity to the office. Though the share of Redfin.com users searching outside their home metro slipped slightly from the first quarter to the second quarter, it is still well above pre-pandemic levels.
“Some pandemic trends are here to stay, and moving to a more affordable part of the country is part of the new normal,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “In fact, the Biden administration plans to make it easier for Americans to move to a new state by encouraging the FTC to ban certain occupational licensing restrictions. That would make it easier for a teacher, barber or electrician to move across state lines.”
Last month, we published a preliminary look at second-quarter migration, which showed that 31.4% of Redfin.com users looked to move to another metro in April and May. This report includes data from the entire second quarter: April, May and June.
The latest migration analysis is based on a sample of more than two million Redfin.com users who searched for homes across 87 metro areas in the second quarter, 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 make up at least 80% of the user’s searches.
Perennially popular destinations like Phoenix and Las Vegas are attracting even more residents than before the pandemic
Phoenix, Las Vegas, Sacramento, Miami and Tampa were the most popular migration destinations of any major metros in the U.S. in the second quarter, meaning they had the biggest net inflows. A net inflow is a measure of how many more Redfin.com home searchers looked to move into a metro than leave, out of a sample of two million users.
Relatively affordable areas are consistently among the top destinations for Redfin.com users moving to different areas, but they have become even more popular during the pandemic. For instance, the net inflow of Redfin.com users into Las Vegas jumped in the beginning of 2020 and has remained elevated since then.
“Las Vegas is attractive for a lot of reasons: Homes are affordable, taxes are low, the weather is warm and now the tourism industry is revving back up, with hotels and casinos bustling once again,” said local Redfin agent Marco Di Pasqualucci. “Remote workers and retirees are flocking to Las Vegas, especially from more expensive markets. If someone sells their expensive house in Seattle or Los Angeles, they can come here and buy a nice, spacious house for over asking price, sometimes even in cash. The market is competitive, but it’s not as tough for folks relocating from places like Seattle or Los Angeles who are planning to pay cash.”
Although Las Vegas home prices have risen 18.1% over the last year, the typical home still sells for $365,000—less than half of the $828,000 median sale price in Los Angeles, the top origin for people relocating to Las Vegas.
| Top 10 Metros by Net Inflow of Users and Their Top Origins | |||||||
| Rank | Metro* | Net Inflow, Q2 2021† | Net Inflow , Q2 2020 | Portion of Searches from Users Outside the Metro, Q2 2021 | Portion of Searches from Users Outside the Metro, Q2 2020 | Top Origin | Top Out-of-State Origin
|
| 1 | Phoenix, AZ | 11,450 | 9,432 | 37.5% | 35.1% | Los Angeles, CA | Los Angeles, CA |
| 2 | Las Vegas, NV | 10,920 | 7,137 | 49.9% | 46.6% | Los Angeles, CA | Los Angeles, CA |
| 3 | Sacramento, CA | 9,910 | 8,874 | 47.4% | 46.5% | San Francisco, CA | Reno, NV |
| 4 | Miami, FL | 9,834 | 4,245 | 31.5% | 27.3% | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| 5 | Tampa, FL | 7,969 | 4,917 | 55.4% | 57.3% | Orlando, FL | New York, NY |
| 6 | Atlanta, GA | 7,773 | 6,734 | 24.3% | 26.5% | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| 7 | Austin, TX | 7,731 | 6,693 | 35.0% | 35.5% | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| 8 | Dallas, TX | 7,493 | 5,506 | 28.4% | 27.5% | Los Angeles, CA | Los Angeles, CA |
| 9 | Cape Coral, FL | 6,477 | 2,694 | 75.1% | 75.1% | Chicago, IL | Chicago, IL |
| 10 | Orlando, FL | 5,532 | 2,779 | 54.3% | 52.9% | New York, NY | New York, NY
|
| *Combined statistical areas with at least 500 users in Q2 2021
†Negative values indicate a net outflow; among the two million users sampled for this analysis only |
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Redfin.com users are leaving New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles
More Redfin.com users moved away from New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Denver than any other metro area in the second quarter, meaning they had the biggest net outflow. A net outflow is a measure of how many more Redfin.com home searchers looked to leave a metro than move in, out of a sample of two million users.
Large, expensive cities typically lose the most residents. But the number of homebuyers looking to leave those places was much higher in the second quarter than the same time period a year before as remote work gives many people the freedom to leave expensive job centers in favor of more affordable locales.
For instance, nearly 45% more Redfin.com users looked to leave the San Francisco Bay Area in the second quarter than a year earlier. Sacramento, where the typical home sold for $565,000 in June, is the most popular destination for people leaving the San Francisco metro, where the typical home sold for nearly three times more in June ($1.59 million).
| Top 10 Metros by Net Outflow of Users and Their Top Destinations | |||||||
| Rank | Metro* | Net Outflow, Q2 2021† | Net Outflow, Q2 2020 | Portion of Local Users Searching Elsewhere, Q2 2021 | Portion of Local Users Searching Elsewhere, Q2 2020 | Top Destination | Top Out-of-State Destination
|
| 1 | New York, NY | 48,535 | 34,021 | 34.3% | 35.3% | Philadelphia, PA | Philadelphia, PA |
| 2 | San Francisco, CA | 45,577 | 31,811 | 23.9% | 22.7% | Sacramento, CA | Seattle, WA |
| 3 | Los Angeles, CA | 33,723 | 17,068 | 18.6% | 15.9% | San Diego, CA | Las Vegas, NV |
| 4 | Washington, DC | 18,143 | 10,575 | 15.0% | 12.8% | Salisbury, MD | Salisbury, MD |
| 5 | Denver, CO | 9,003 | 4,964 | 30.4% | 24.8% | Chicago, IL | Chicago, IL |
| 6 | Chicago, IL | 6,628 | 6,770 | 12.8% | 11.7% | Cape Coral, FL | Cape Coral, FL |
| 7 | Seattle, WA | 6,158 | 6,021 | 15.4% | 13.7% | Phoenix, AZ | Phoenix, AZ |
| 8 | Boston, MA | 4,991 | 3,046 | 15.3% | 11.8% | Portland, ME | Portland, ME |
| 9 | Detroit, MI | 3,265 | 900 | 26.9% | 22.5% | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland, OH |
| 10 | Milwaukee, WI | 3,222 | 1,554 | 40.8% | 37.3% | Chicago, IL | Chicago, IL
|
| *Combined statistical areas with at least 500 users in Q2 2021
†Among the two million users sampled for this analysis only |
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