Nearly one-quarter of homebuyers in the U.S. considered moving to a more affordable metro area in the third quarter. This record high moving rate is according to a new report from Redfin. That’s up from 23.3% in the second quarter, 21.6% a year ago, and about 18% before the pandemic. Despite rising house prices, people are still finding a lot of reasons to move to Florida in 2023.
Florida still affordable
Homebuyers are stretched to find affordable offers, as mortgage rates surpass 7%, more than doubling in the last year. These high rates, coupled with rising home prices and surging inflation, are making many homebuyers consider more affordable metro areas. Economic opportunity and social connections used to be a top priority for homebuyers. However, now, affordability has become the top concern in 2022 and leading into 2023.
“With a recession looming and household expenses high, many people can’t afford to buy a home in an expensive area and/or want to save money in case of an emergency, which makes relocating somewhere more affordable an attractive option. Migration will likely slow in the coming months because the softening labor market and job losses will push more people to stay put or move in with family, though some may need to relocate for new employment opportunities. Plus, many remote workers who wanted to relocate already have.”
Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao
Sacramento was the most popular destination for Redfin.com users looking to relocate, followed by Miami, Las Vegas, San Diego and Tampa. However, in Redfin’s research, Florida had four of the top ten cities with the highest net inflow. This is the number of site searches looking to move into a metro area, minus the number of searchers looking to leave.
Many of these homebuyers are looking for sunnier, more affordable places to live that still offer the perks of big-city living. For example, New York, where the typical home costs $680,000, is the most common origin for buyers moving to Miami. Pricey areas like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston topped the list for the highest net outflow. This is the measure of how many more Redfin.com users looked to leave an area than move in.
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Miami, Tampa, Cape Coral, and Sarasota all made Redfin’s Top Ten cities homebuyers are moving into. And no Florida cities were listed in their top ten for homebuyers moving out of. In a time when homebuyers are struggling across the nation, Florida’s real estate market seems to be making significant progress heading into 2023.
Redfin’s migration analysis is based on about two million Redfin.com users who viewed for-sale homes online across more than 100 metro areas in the third quarter. Click here to read the full report.