America's so-called 'Great Migration' appears to be waning as the share of homebuyers looking to move has fallen to its lowest level in 18 months.
About 23.9 percent of buyers wanted to move to another town or city in November, compared to a peak of 26 percent in the summer, according to a new report from real estate portal Redfin.
It comes after large numbers of residents from New York and California fled to Florida and Texas in search of lower taxes and a cheaper cost of living.
But Redfin's analysis of user searches shows that this trend is dying down, largely due to the decline of remote work, which has given workers more flexibility to relocate in recent years.
Surprisingly, among those looking to relocate, Sacramento, CA was named the most popular area to move to – despite reports that California in general is losing residents. It was followed by Las Vegas (NV), Nort Port Sarasota (FL) and Cape Coral (FL), respectively.
About 23.9 percent of buyers wanted to move to another metro area in November, compared to a peak of 26 percent in the summer, according to a new report from Redfin
Redfin analyzed how many home seekers wanted to move to urban areas and subtracted the number of those looking to move. The figures apply to the month of November
Meanwhile, Los Angeles (CA) emerged as the top metro area where homebuyers fled.
Redfin analyzed how many home seekers wanted to move to LA and subtracted the number of those looking to move.
It turned out that Los Angeles would lose 26,100 residents if all those searchers continued to move.
San Francisco, New York, Washington, D.C. and Seattle were also listed among the top five metro areas where residents were leaving. All were predicted to lose 11,000 or more civilians.
The report notes: 'There is less flexibility to work remotely as employers call employees back to the office.
“That means the flow of homebuyers moving from the Bay Area to places like Austin (TX) or Boise (ID) has decreased.”
It added that house prices in popular migration destinations had risen since the pandemic, leaving more people unable to move.
For example, the median home price in the popular destination of Sacramento was $491,500 in November — about 35 percent more than before the pandemic.
By comparison, home prices in the Bay Area were up only 8 percent overall.
Still, the migration rate remains above pre-pandemic levels, when an average of only 19 percent of homebuyers planned to move to another state.
It turned out that Los Angeles would lose 26,100 residents if all those searchers continued to move
Vered and Ido left California amid rising costs and crime (photo: the couple at their favorite local restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee)
The movement was fueled by the rising cost of living, which is pushing many citizens to move to cheaper metros.
California and New York were among the states hardest hit by the trend, with experts blaming their high tax rates.
U.S. Census Bureau data released last week shows California lost 75,400 residents in the 12 months to July 1 this year.
There are varying income tax rates in California, but the highest income earners face a punitive tax of 12.3 percent – plus an additional 1 percent surcharge for those making more than $1 million a year.
New York's highest earners face a 10.9 percent income tax. Wage earners must pay this on top of their federal and local taxes.
In October, former California resident Vered DeLeeux told DailyMail.com that the rising cost of living and crime rates in the Golden State forced her to move to Memphis, Tennessee.
DeLeeux, who used to live in Palo Alto with her husband IDo, said: “Real estate prices are so crazy that if you want to buy a standard family home, you have to spend millions of dollars.
“We just felt like the cost of living kept going up and taxes kept going up, but our quality of life was slowly going down.”