A record number of people are moving out of state - here's where they're going

Americans are on the move, and that's a fact. According to real estate broker  Redfin.com, 29.3 per cent of its users looked to move to a different metro in October and November 2020, up from 25.4 per cent a year before. 

The trend is for residents of expensive coastal towns looking to move to more affordable cities further inland, where they can find more space for less money. This trend began with the pandemic and shows no signs of abating. Sacramento, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Austin and Atlanta were the most popular destinations for people looking to move to a different metro in October and November, meaning those places had bigger net inflows than any other major metro in the U.S. Net inflow means more people looked to move in that leave, while a net outflow means more people looked to leave than move in.

While those places are typically the most popular destinations, largely due to their affordability and relatively warm weather, the number of out-of-towners searching for homes in all five metros has skyrocketed since last year.

That's especially true in Austin. In October and November, net inflow to the Austin metro area was double the same time last year. 

'There has been a massive influx of buyers coming to Austin this year, mostly people who work in tech or other industries that allow them to work remotely,' said local Redfin agent Andrew Vallejo. 

'About 80 per cent of my buyers are from the East Coast or the West Coast, specifically from the Bay Area. The number of people moving in from California picked up even more after the election, and a lot of people have newfound confidence in the Austin housing market because of the upcoming Tesla factory.'

'I've also noticed a lot of people come to Austin, rent a house for a couple months, then fall in love with the walkability and charm of the city and move here permanently," Vallejo said. "The number of out-of-towners makes the market difficult for locals, especially if they don't work in tech. A lot of local homebuyers have to look in the far-flung suburbs to find a home, or they have to turn to family members for cash to make their offers more competitive.'

The Bay Area is the top origin for people moving to Austin from out of town. The number of people relocating from Northern California to Austin is likely to increase in the near future as companies like Oracle and Hewlett Packard move from Silicon Valley to the Texas capitol.

Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle and New York are the next most popular origins for people relocating to Austin.

Meanwhile, there has been a nearly 70 per cenuptick in net inflow of people looking to relocate to Sacramento and Las Vegas. In Phoenix and Atlanta, the increase from last year is nearly 50 per cent.

The share of Redfin.com users searching for homes from outside the metro has increased in all of those metros except Atlanta. The increase is particularly significant in Austin, where more than 38 per cent of all home searches were from users outside the metro in October and November, up from 30.9 per cent a year before.

The Bay Area is the top origin for Redfin.com users moving to Sacramento and Austin, Los Angeles is the top origin for people moving to Las Vegas and Phoenix, and New York is the top origin for people moving to Atlanta.

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