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Leaving LA: Here’s where Angelenos want to live outside the city
Rising prices and a housing shortage have sent a growing number of LA homeowners searching for cheaper alternatives, according to Redfin
Where do Angelenos who are looking to move out look to land?
The top three destinations for prospective homeowners have the same thing in common: They are all cheaper than L.A.
San Diego, Phoenix and Las Vegas were the three most popular cities for L.A. residents to search, according to a new study by Redfin.
Why? A lot of it has to do with L.A.’s housing shortage, coupled with ever rising prices. As of December, the median home price in L.A. was $649,000, according to Redfin. While that was well below San Francisco’s $1.3 million, it was still enough to get residents clicking for a way out.
“The current inventory crunch really started building in the fourth quarter [of 2019], pushing home prices in the expensive coastal cities back up after a slight reprieve earlier in the year,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “As price increases begin to gain steam again in these areas, we’re predicting that migration to more affordable areas will increase, which in turn will begin to drive prices up there, as well.”
Two of the most expensive markets in the country: San Francisco and New York also saw residents looking for less expensive homes.
San Franciscans wanting to stay in California were most looking to move to Sacramento. Meanwhile, Seattle — median home price, $570,000 — was their top out-of-state destination.
Los Angeles was the top out-of-state destination for Houston residents looking to leave Texas, according to the report. Meanwhile, people in Chicago looked at homes in Phoenix.
Redfin’s latest migration analysis is based on a sample of more than 1 million users who searched for homes across 87 metro areas from October through December. Residential agents reported a similar phenomenon in January 2019.
Portland, Oregon, regained a spot in the top 10 list of metro areas with the highest net inflow of Redfin users, perhaps because the city has the most affordable median home price — $400,000 — among major West Coast cities.
Nationwide, Phoenix, Sacramento, Las Vegas and Atlanta continued to dominate the list of the top migration destinations.