Nearly 25% of U.S. Home Buyers Want to Relocate — and This State Is No. 1 on Their List

People want larger homes at lower costs.

By Amanda Breen edited by Jessica Thomas Dec 12, 2022
Sylvain Sonnet | Getty Images

With housing costs skyrocketing across the country, many U.S. home buyers are considering all of their options, especially within the more affordable Sun Belt states.

According to a recent report from online real estate brokerage Redfin.com, nearly a quarter (24.1%) of its users are searching for properties in cities where they don’t live — up roughly 6% since 2019.

Redfin’s data revealed that the Sun Belt metros are generally most attractive to relocating home buyers who want larger homes at lower costs. For example, the typical home in Las Vegas cost $410,000 in October — approximately half that of an average Los Angeles home ($823,000).

Still, high inflation remains a concern in many Sun Belt cities. Per The New York Times, cities like Phoenix, Miami, Atlanta and Tampa are seeing price increases well above 10% this year, while the national rate clocked in at 8.5% in July.

Related: 5 Reasons Why Real Estate Is a Great Investment

The following 10 cities had the highest net inflow (number of people looking to move into a city minus the number of people looking to leave) of property searches on Redfin’s website — with four of the top spots going to Florida.

1. Sacramento, California: 7,800

2. Las Vegas, Nevada: 7,100

3. Miami, Florida: 6,700

4. San Diego, California: 6,500

5. Tampa, Florida: 5,600

6. Phoenix, Arizona: 4,700

7. Cape Coral, Florida: 4,600

8. North Port-Sarasota, Florida: 4,300

9. Dallas, Texas: 3,800

10. Orlando, Florida: 3,700

With housing costs skyrocketing across the country, many U.S. home buyers are considering all of their options, especially within the more affordable Sun Belt states.

According to a recent report from online real estate brokerage Redfin.com, nearly a quarter (24.1%) of its users are searching for properties in cities where they don’t live — up roughly 6% since 2019.

Redfin’s data revealed that the Sun Belt metros are generally most attractive to relocating home buyers who want larger homes at lower costs. For example, the typical home in Las Vegas cost $410,000 in October — approximately half that of an average Los Angeles home ($823,000).

Still, high inflation remains a concern in many Sun Belt cities. Per The New York Times, cities like Phoenix, Miami, Atlanta and Tampa are seeing price increases well above 10% this year, while the national rate clocked in at 8.5% in July.

Related: 5 Reasons Why Real Estate Is a Great Investment

The following 10 cities had the highest net inflow (number of people looking to move into a city minus the number of people looking to leave) of property searches on Redfin’s website — with four of the top spots going to Florida.

1. Sacramento, California: 7,800

2. Las Vegas, Nevada: 7,100

3. Miami, Florida: 6,700

4. San Diego, California: 6,500

5. Tampa, Florida: 5,600

6. Phoenix, Arizona: 4,700

7. Cape Coral, Florida: 4,600

8. North Port-Sarasota, Florida: 4,300

9. Dallas, Texas: 3,800

10. Orlando, Florida: 3,700

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Amanda Breen

Senior Features Writer at Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur Staff
Amanda Breen is a senior features writer at Entrepreneur.com. She is a graduate of Barnard College and received an MFA in writing at Columbia University, where she was a news fellow for the School of the Arts.

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