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Boston is seeing a record level of interest from prospective homebuyers looking to relocate to a different metro area, according to a new report from online home search site and brokerage Redfin.
The city topped the site’s third quarter rankings of metros of interest among the site’s users. Nationally, 26 percent of home searchers looked to move to another metro area in the third quarter of 2019, up from 25 percent the year before. The analysis is based on a sample of more than 1 million Redfin users who searched for homes across 87 metro areas from July through September. In a statement accompanying the report’s release, Redfin suggested the national trend could be caused by buyers searching for more affordability.
After two quarters at the top of Redfin’s list of metro areas with the highest net inflow of its users, Phoenix fell to No. 3 in the rankings in the third quarter, passed by Boston at No. 1 and Sacramento at No. 2.
Seventeen percent of homebuyers searching in the Boston metro area were looking from other metro areas in the third quarter, up from both a year earlier (12 percent) and the second quarter (14.1 percent). New York continues to be the top origin city for people looking to move to Boston, and Boston is the top destination for people looking to leave New York.
“There is a sense here in New York that the sky has been falling for our housing market all year,” Redfin New York market manager Nick Boniakowski said in a statement. “People fleeing NYC aren’t looking for a rural life, they are fleeing the high costs. Boston presents a slightly more accessible cost of living, while still providing urban quality of life that many desire today. Boston is appealing because it’s close and there are similar employment opportunities.”
Relative to New York City, Boston’s lower sales taxes, income taxes, and property taxes are likely a big factor driving people to make the move between the two cities, Redfin’s report suggested. Six of the top ten migration destinations have median prices below the national median, and only San Diego has a higher median price than Boston.
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Rank |
Metro* |
Net Inflow 2019 Q3† |
Net Inflow 2018 Q3 |
Portion of Searches from Users Outside the Metro 2019 Q3 |
Portion of Searches from Users Outside the Metro 2018 Q3 |
Top Origin |
Top Out-of-State Origin |
|
|
1 |
Boston, MA |
6,985 |
1,437 |
17.2% |
12% |
New York, NY |
New York, NY |
|
|
2 |
Sacramento, CA |
6,896 |
7,043 |
43.4% |
42.5% |
San Francisco, CA |
Reno, NV |
|
|
3 |
Phoenix, AZ |
6,182 |
5,235 |
31.6% |
32.4% |
Los Angeles, CA |
Los Angeles, CA |
|
|
4 |
Las Vegas, NV |
5,938 |
2,371 |
44.8% |
40.7% |
Los Angeles, CA |
Los Angeles, CA |
|
|
5 |
Atlanta, GA |
5,827 |
5,466 |
26.4% |
26.3% |
New York, NY |
New York, NY |
|
|
6 |
Austin, TX |
4,767 |
3,016 |
32% |
27.6% |
San Francisco, CA |
San Francisco, CA |
|
|
7 |
Dallas, TX |
3,475 |
2,733 |
23.5% |
22.5% |
Los Angeles, CA |
Los Angeles, CA |
|
|
8 |
Tampa, FL |
3,218 |
2,807 |
52.7% |
51.1% |
Orlando, FL |
New York, NY |
|
|
9 |
San Diego, CA |
3,043 |
3,200 |
23.2% |
24.7% |
Los Angeles, CA |
Seattle, WA |
|
|
10 |
Charlotte, NC |
2,848 |
1,977 |
40% |
37.3% |
New York, NY |
New York, NY |
|
|
*Combined statistical areas with at least 500 users in Q3 2019 †Negative values indicate a net outflow; among the one million users sampled for this analysis only |
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