Florida Has 5 of Top 10 Move-To Metros in U.S.

 By Kerry Smith

Florida metros remain popular with outside-the-city homebuyers. In a 3Q top-state popularity contest, Fla. has 5 metros in the top 10 and Calif. has 2.

SEATTLE – About one in four (24.1%) U.S. homebuyers considered moving to a different metro area in third quarter of 2022, according to a report from Redfin, and five of the popular metros in the top 10 were in Florida.

Top U.S. metro areas by inflow in 3rd Quarter 2022

1. Sacramento, California: Top origin metro, San Francisco. Top out-of-state origin: Chicago
2. Las Vegas, Nevada: Top origin metro, Los Angeles. Top out-of-state origin: Los Angeles
3. Miami: Top origin metro, New York. Top out-of-state origin: New York
4. San Diego, California: Top origin metro, Los Angeles. Top out-of-state origin: Chicago
5. Tampa: Top origin metro, New York. Top out-of-state origin: New York
6. Phoenix, Arizona: Top origin metro, Los Angeles. Top out-of-state origin: Los Angeles
7. Cape Coral, Florida: Top origin metro, Chicago. Top out-of-state origin: Chicago
8. North Port-Sarasota, Florida: Top origin metro, Chicago. Top out-of-state origin: Chicago
9. Dallas, Texas: Top origin metro, Los Angeles. Top out-of-state origin: Los Angeles
10. Orlando, Florida: Top origin metro, New York. Top out-of-state origin: New York

The third quarter results were similar to the second quarter, according to the study, but up from 2019 when 18% of home shoppers searched for housing in a different metro area.

The U.S. housing market cooled significantly during the second half of 2022, but of the people still buying homes, an unprecedented portion are relocating to new metros. Many are seeking relative affordability as mortgage rates hover around 7% and persistently high home prices make expensive parts of the country even more expensive.

Overall, affordable Sun Belt metros are most popular with relocating homebuyers, largely because they can get more home for less money. In Las Vegas, for instance, the typical home cost $410,000 in October, roughly half the price of the typical home in Los Angeles ($823,000) – the most common origin for people moving there.

Buyers leaving expensive West Coast, East Coast cities

More homebuyers looked to leave San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C. and Boston than other major metros, determined by net outflow – a measure of how many more Redfin.com users looked to leave an area than move in.

In general, homebuyers are leaving expensive coastal job centers more than other places – a trend that started before the pandemic and picked up steam due to remote work and rising housing costs – and they commonly head to more affordable regions.

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