California real estate agents are facing a challenging market in 2017, with increasing home prices, unsustainable costs of living and a lack of access to affordable housing.
A recent report by Redfin has found that potential buyers are leaving San Francisco and Los Angeles in search for a more realistic standard of living. A similar trend is underway in New York. The survey found that San Francisco had the largest net outflow with 15,087 homebuyers looking for homes outside of the city. In the No. 2 spot is New York City, with 7,137 buyers looking elsewhere. Coming in at No. 3 is Los Angeles, with 5,367 potential buyers leaving the city.
Researcher Taylor Marr pointed out that the company has tracked San Francisco migration patterns for several years and the results track with buying trends of Redfin customers who also take advantage of its brokerage services.
“As the price of the typical home in the Bay Area has surged to over a million dollars, residents are increasingly likely to seek more affordable places to live.”
All of these people have to go somewhere. Increasingly they are heading South. Many are going North, too. According to the survey, 22 percent of Bay Area users searched for homes in Sacramento. There, they stay in California, but can find living a little more affordable. Phoenix and Las Vegas were favorite out-of-state destination. Redfin chief economist Nela Richard noted that Austin, Texas is attractive with its affordability and solid job market and economy.
“Austin is the gold standard of healthy migration, driven by its booming jobs market and a vibrant housing market. In order for cities to attract and keep a talented workforce, win corporate investment and generate tax revenues, they have to prioritize the basics for their residents — ensuring an adequate supply of homes that are affordable to live in.”
According to Ciara Matthews, deputy communications director for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas has been able to attract new residents and businesses because of its advantages in taxation. In fact, the Tax Foundation ranks the state 46 out of 50 states with the lowest local and state tax burden in the country.
“Less government, low taxes, smarter regulations and right-to-work laws are the pro-growth economic policies that help free enterprise and home-grown businesses flourish, and that attract more employers to Texas every day from states that over-tax and over-regulate.”
While Californians are looking to leave, Redfin found more than 90 percent of its users in Chicago, Boston and Seattle are staying where they are. Marr noted that one in four American adults move to another city every five years.
“In 2016 alone, more than 12 million people — 3.9 percent of the U.S. population — changed counties, according to the latest Census data.”
