People are leaving expensive states in favor of more affordable options, according to a new report from real estate brokerage firm Redfin. The COVID-19 pandemic and the work-from-home movement has intensified the relocation trend.
California and New York had the biggest increase in people looking to move out of state since last year, according to Redfin. Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and Illinois round out of the top five states that people want to leave, according to Redfin.
Nearly 53,000 more Redfin.com users looked to move out of California than into it in the third quarter, a 62% increase since the third quarter of 2019 and the highest rate since Redfin started tracking migration in the beginning of 2017.
Likewise, in New York, almost 47,000 more Redfin.com users looked to leave the state than move in during the third quarter, roughly 35% more than the 35,000 home searchers looking to leave during the same time period last year.
“New York’s loss is Florida’s gain,” said Taylor Marr, an economist with Redfin. “When the pandemic hit the U.S. in March, remote workers started leaving New York City and its ultra-expensive housing in search of wide-open spaces, sunshine and affordable homes – all of which you can find in Florida, with the bonus of no state income tax. The trend has only intensified as the pandemic continues and people feel more certain of their remote work and school plans.”
So where are these people going? They’re moving to states with less expensive real estate and more favorable tax laws. For example, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and Nevada are particularly attractive because of their lack of state income tax. North Carolina is also a state seeing a lot of in-migration since last year.
In fact, nearly 22,000 more Redfin.com users looked to move into Florida than out in the third quarter, almost twice as many entrants as the third quarter of 2019 and the highest net inflow for the state since Redfin started tracking migration. Movement into Florida has accelerated since the beginning of the year.
Redfin noted that the uptick in people leaving California and New York could impact the political makeup of their destination states. “Wealthy retirees moving from New York to Florida may be contributing to an increase in registered Republicans in the Sunshine State, and remote workers leaving California could be a factor in the uptick in registered Democrats in Arizona,” the firm added.
Comments