Redfin Reports Miami and Tampa Are the Most Popular Destinations For Relocating Homebuyers

Nationwide, a record share of homebuyers are relocating, many in search of affordability as prices and mortgage rates soar.

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- (NASDAQ: RDFN) — Homebuyer migration remained at an all-time high in April and May, with 32.3% of Redfin.com users nationwide looking to move to a different metro area, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. While that’s unchanged from the record set in the first quarter, it’s up from about 26% before the pandemic began.

Even as the housing market cools down from the pandemic-driven frenzy, many homebuyers are keen on moving from one part of the country to another. That’s largely because homebuyers are chasing affordability, moving to places like the Southwest and parts of Florida where homes are more affordable than pricey coastal metros.

Housing costs have skyrocketed and mortgage rates have shot up, making buying a home in expensive places like the Bay Area and New York even less attainable for the typical American. And because many buyers now work from home permanently, it’s more feasible to relocate to relatively affordable places like parts of the Sun Belt.

Florida is the most popular location for relocating homebuyers

Two Florida metros topped the list of most popular destinations for homebuyers moving from one metro to another in April and May: Miami and Tampa. That’s measured by net inflow, or how many more Redfin.com users looked to move into an area than leave.

Miami has topped the list all year, and Tampa just surpassed Phoenix for the number-two spot. Phoenix had held the number-two spot since last fall; now it comes in at number three, followed by Sacramento and Las Vegas.

Tampa is becoming more popular with relocating homebuyers largely because it’s relatively affordable, with the typical home selling for $370,000 in April. Although Tampa prices were up nearly 28% year over year, they were still well below the national median of $424,000. It’s the only metro on the top-five list where that’s the case. The typical home sells for $475,000 in Miami, $480,000 in Phoenix, $605,000 in Sacramento and $445,000 in Las Vegas.

Migration into Tampa has steadily ticked up since the pandemic began. Tampa had a net inflow of more than 11,000 homebuyers in the first quarter, up from roughly 7,600 a year earlier and about 4,000 two years earlier.

San Antonio, the 9th most popular destination in April and May, has also seen a big increase in relocating homebuyers. As San Antonio’s popularity with out-of-towners picks up, Austin’s is declining. Austin was the nation’s most popular pandemic-fueled migration destination in early 2021, but no longer ranks on Redfin's list of top migration destinations.

Top 10 Metros by Net Inflow of Users and Their Top Origins
Rank	Metro*	Net Inflow, April & May 2022^†	Net Inflow, April & May 2021	Portion of Searches from Users Outside the Metro, April & May 2022	Portion of Searches from Users Outside the Metro, April & May 2021	Top Origin	Top Out-of- State Origin
1	Miami, FL	11,350	7,338	33.8%	32%	New York, NY	New York, NY
2	Tampa, FL	8,756	6,530	50.3%	59.8%	Orlando, FL	New York, NY
3	Phoenix, AZ	8,706	9,493	36.6%	38.5%	Los Angeles, CA	Los Angeles, CA
4	Sacramento, CA	8,362	7,656	42.6%	48.5%	San Francisco, CA	Seattle, WA
5	Las Vegas, NV	7,434	9,011	46.5%	53.4%	Los Angeles, CA	Los Angeles, CA
6	Cape Coral, FL	6,073	5,420	67.4%	77%	Chicago, IL	Chicago, IL
7	North Port, FL	5,710	4,013	67.3%	79%	Chicago, IL	Chicago, IL
8	San Diego, CA	5,200	2,673	31.5%	29.5%	Los Angeles, CA	Seattle, WA
9	San Antonio, TX	4,802	3,260	42.7%	46.7%	Austin, TX	Los Angeles, CA
10	Dallas, TX	4,518	7,211	25.1%	32.1%	Los Angeles, CA	Los Angeles, CA
*Combined statistical areas with at least 500 users in April & May 2022 †Negative values indicate a net outflow; among the two million users sampled for this analysis only

Homebuyers are moving away from San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York

San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York saw more homebuyers looking to leave than any other metro in April and May. Washington, D.C. and Seattle round out the top five. That’s based on net outflow, a measure of how many more Redfin.com users looked to leave an area than move in.

It’s worth noting that fewer homebuyers are leaving New York than a year ago. New York had a net outflow of about 30,000 in April and May, down from more than 45,000 a year earlier. Migration out of New York is slowing as some workers return to the offices, cultural events ramp back up and housing prices soar in the suburbs.

Expensive coastal job centers perennially top the list of metros homebuyers are leaving. As discussed above, that trend has picked up during the pandemic as remote work has become more popular and people are able to move to more affordable parts of the country.

Top 10 Metros by Net Outflow of Users and Their Top Destinations
Rank	Metro*	Net Outflow, April & May 2022^†	Net Outflow, April & May 2021	Portion of Local Users Searching Elsewhere, April & May 2022	Portion of Local Users Searching Elsewhere, April & May 2021	Top Destination	Top Out-of- State Destination
1	San Francisco, CA	41,474	32,308	22.9%	23%	Sacramento, CA	Seattle, WA
2	Los Angeles, CA	33,571	25,857	19.1%	19%	San Diego, CA	Las Vegas, NV
3	New York, NY	30,076	45,971	28.2%	36.5%	Philadelphia, PA	Philadelphia, PA
4	Washington, DC	20,808	14,952	16.7%	15%	Salisbury, MD	Salisbury, MD
5	Seattle, WA	17,851	5,838	17.9%	15.5%	Phoenix, AZ	Phoenix, AZ
6	Boston, MA	10,581	3,288	17.9%	14.9%	Portland, ME	Portland, ME
7	Detroit, MI	5,947	2,235	33.8%	26.7%	Cleveland, OH	Cleveland, OH
8	Chicago, IL	5,166	6,264	13.8%	13.3%	Cape Coral, FL	Cape Coral, FL
9	Denver, CO	4,770	8,616	29.2%	31.8%	Chicago, IL	Chicago, IL
10	Portland, OR	2,359	-1,066	18%	17.2%	Seattle, WA	Seattle, WA
*Combined statistical areas with at least 500 users in April & May 2022 †Among the two million users sampled for this analysis only

To read the full report, including charts and methodology, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/may-2022-housing-migration-trends

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, instant home-buying (iBuying), rentals, lending, title insurance, and renovations services. We sell homes for more money and charge half the fee. We also run the country's #1 real-estate brokerage site. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Customers selling a home can take an instant cash offer from Redfin or have our renovations crew fix up their home to sell for top dollar. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Since launching in 2006, we've saved customers more than $1 billion in commissions. We serve more than 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 6,000 people.

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Source: Redfin

Released June 15, 2022