Phoenix is a top destination for new home buyers, according to a recent Redfin report.
Between January and February, a record 31.2% of people, or 2 million users, browsing the real estate brokerage site were looking to relocate to a different metro area, up from 26.1% during the same time period last year. A large majority of searchers hailed from coastal cities, like Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.
According to local Redfin agent Thomas Wiederstein, Phoenix has replaced Texas as a top place to relocate due to the recent winter storms in the Lone Star State, where the majority of new home buyers hail from Los Angeles.
“More and more people are moving into Phoenix; the trend is only becoming more intense. More than half of my buyers are coming from out of state, mostly from California. And with the recent winter storms in places like Dallas, several of my newer clients are out-of-state buyers who have shifted their home search from Texas to Arizona. Buyers from other states tend to make stronger offers because they have more cash on hand, and that makes it extremely difficult for locals to compete.”
—Redfin agent Thomas Wiederstein
Austin, Las Vegas, Dallas and Miami were also popular destinations for those looking for a fresh start in a new city.
The share of Redfin.com users searching for homes outside their metro has steadily increased since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with remote work allowing home buyers to prioritize affordability and living near family and friends. For many buyers, that means they now have the freedom to relocate to a different part of the country.
Read the full report here.
