Las Vegas Tops List of Popular Homebuyer Destinations For First Time, With West Coast Migrants Drawn to Cheaper Homes

The typical Las Vegas home costs less than half as much as one in Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle, the most common origins for buyers moving in.

(NASDAQ: RDFN) — A record one-quarter (25.5%) of homebuyers nationwide looked to move to a different metro area in the second quarter, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. That is up from 23% a year earlier and about 19% before the pandemic.

Even though a record portion of homebuyers are relocating, there are fewer relocators than there were a year ago as high mortgage rates cool the overall housing market. The number of Redfin.com users moving to a different metro is down 7.5% year over year, a record decline but much smaller than the 18% decline for those staying within their current metro area.

Las Vegas is the most popular destination for relocating homebuyers, topping Redfin’s list for the first time. Buyers with the freedom and inclination to relocate are choosing Las Vegas largely because their money goes a long way there: Its typical home sells for $412,000, less than half the price of a home in Los Angeles, the most common origin for buyers moving to Las Vegas. It’s a similar story for the other popular migration destinations, which include Phoenix, Sacramento and several Florida metros.

Today’s elevated mortgage rates—the June average was 6.7%, up from 5.5% a year earlier and 3% in early 2022—have changed the dynamic of the overall housing market. High rates have slowed the market significantly since the pandemic homebuying frenzy, which was driven by record-low rates and remote work, but they have also upped the appeal of relatively affordable metro areas.

Nearly all of the most popular destinations have cheaper homes than the places out-of-towners come from

After Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tampa, FL are the most popular destinations for Redfin.com users moving to a different metro area. Popularity is determined by net inflow, a measure of how many more Redfin.com users looked to move into an area than leave.

Five of the 10 most popular destinations are in Florida. All have warm climates, with many facing increasing risk of natural disasters like flooding and heat. Phoenix, for instance, was under an excessive heat warning for much of July.

But nine of the 10 most popular destinations have lower median sale prices than the most common origin of buyers moving in, and many homebuyers are more motivated by affordability than other factors in choosing where to live.

A recent Redfin survey conducted by Qualtrics found that just 4% of U.S. residents who moved to a new metro in the last year did so because they were concerned about the impact of climate change on their previous area. This is compared with 20% who moved for a lower overall cost of living, 15% who wanted a better deal on a home and 13% who couldn’t afford a home/the cost of living in their previous area.

Buyers are leaving the Bay Area and other pricey metros to get a less expensive home

Homebuyers are leaving San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles more than any other metro in the country. That’s based on net outflow, a measure of how many more Redfin.com users are looking to leave a metro than move in.

Several other expensive job centers, including Washington, D.C. and Boston, are also among the 10 metros homebuyers are most apt to leave. That’s largely for the same reasons described above: Homebuyers are leaving expensive places in favor of areas with more affordable housing, which is made possible by remote work for many movers. San Francisco’s median sale price is over $1.4 million, the highest in the country. That’s more than double the ~$600,000 median sale price in both Portland, OR and Austin, two of the 10 most popular destinations for homebuyers leaving San Francisco.

To view the full report, including charts, tables and methodology, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-migration-trends-Q2-2023

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, rentals, lending, title insurance, and renovations services. We also run the country's #1 real estate brokerage site. Our home-buying customers see homes first with same day tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Customers selling a home in certain markets can 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. Customers who buy and sell with Redfin pay a 1% listing fee, subject to minimums, less than half of what brokerages commonly charge. Since launching in 2006, we've saved customers more than $1.5 billion in commissions. We serve more than 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 5,000 people.

For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to Redfin's press release distribution list, email press@redfin.com. To view Redfin's press center, click here.

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