Where Are Homeowners Moving To The Most?

Despite high home prices and low inventory, some homeowners are still looking to brave the market for a little change of scenery. A report from LendingTree is exploring where folks have moved to the most in recent years.

To determine where homeowners most recently moved into their homes, LendingTree analyzed Census data to find the share of homeowners, in the nation’s 50-largest metropolitan areas, who relocated in 2017 or later, according to the report. Additionally, the company took a look at the relationship between how long homeowners have lived in their homes and local home price growth.

The results found that Las Vegas, Phoenix and Jacksonville, FL are the three metros that saw the largest share of homeowners moving in recently. Between the three metros, an average 22.5% of homeowners moved in 2017 or later, close to 6% higher than the national average of 16.6%, according to LendingTree.

On the other end of the spectrum, Los Angeles, San Jose and Pittsburgh are the metros where the fewest homeowners have moved to over the past few years. Just an average of 11.2% of homeowners across the three metros have moved in 2017 or later.

“In general, metros with a larger share of homeowners who recently moved see home prices appreciate faster than metros where homeowners tend to stay in their homes longer,” according to LendingTree. “There is a relatively strong positive correlation between the share of homeowners who moved in 2017 or later and three-year home price growth across the nation’s largest metros. For example, the median home value in the top three metros in LendingTree’s study grew by an average of 26.5% from 2016 to 2019. In the three lowest-ranked metros, the median home value only increased by an average of 16.5% over the same period.”

Find out where your market ranks among the major destinations for homeowners in recent years.