Homeowners and buyers migrating from the expensive coastal California markets are finding their ideal abodes in a mix of large metropolitan areas like New York, less expensive Sun Belt markets like Las Vegas, or high job-growth centers like Dallas according to a study by Trulia [1] that examined where people leaving the pricey California markets were migrating.
For the report [2], Trulia looked at housing markets in San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and San Diego where homes on the market in March 2017 averaged $720,000 compared to the national average of $250,000. It also examined the rank of these destination markets compared with California markets, focusing on the first six months of 2016 on the assumption that those who moved in the first quarter of 2017 were likely ramping up their home search in that period.
The study found that top migration destinations for Californians included large metros like New York, Atlanta, and Chicago, as well as Sun Belt markets like Las Vegas and Phoenix. Homeowners migrating to new cities also found a lot to look forward to in high-growth job centers like Seattle, Denver, Dallas, and Portland, Oregon.
Though New York registered the highest median listing price of nearly $440,000 among the top 10 markets for migrating Californians, it was still less expensive than coastal California, the report said.
Among destination cities, Las Vegas, Nevada topped the list of destinations where people migrated from coastal California, with 8.1 percent of Californians migrating there. For those accustomed to the coast and large cities, New York, New York’s allure had 7.3 percent migrating across the country to the Big Apple. Phoenix, Arizona in the Sun Belt came a close third with 7 percent migrating to this city in the first quarter of 2017.
Dallas, Texas; and Seattle, Washington rounded off the top five destinations that Californians migrated to during the period.
Other destinations to make it to the top 10 list were Portland, Oregon; Atlanta, Georgia; Houston, Texas, Chicago, Illinois; and Denver, Colorado.