The “Great Reshuffling” is generally thought of as a pandemic-specific phenomenon — a sudden burst of cross-country relocations by people unshackled by the onset of remote-work in 2020. But the flow out of expensive markets has not stopped, and continues to have major effects across the country.
- The most popular migration destination in the U.S. last year were Phoenix, Dallas, and Orlando. Almost every city in the top ten is in the South or the Sun Belt. Meanwhile the metros people were most likely to leave were San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City.
- Places like Austin, Phoenix, and Tampa have the highest price growth in the county, challenging their previous status as affordable markets. Those migration patterns have been more beneficial for top-tier coastal cities, easing pricing, and inventory problems.
- People fleeing the priciest metros are disturbing the equilibrium in cheaper markets. In Nashville, for example, out-of-town buyers have 28.5% higher budgets than local residents. The opposite is true in San Francisco, where locals still have higher budgets. It’s a good reminder that we shouldn’t apply the ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ mentality to the effects of the pandemic. Many of the shifts born in 2020 will be with us for years to come. In fact, what’s happening in Las Vegas — new residents have driven home prices up close to 25% — is happening in cities across the country.
Read more at the NYT: Remote Work Opens Up Cheaper Housing Options
