Fleeing City Dwellers Increasingly Search for Homes Outside Their Metros

The number of urbanites searching for suburban homes grew in the second quarter, says Realtor.com. But while the majority have limited their searches to areas near their current homes, a growing number are looking to rural communities out-of-state. One real estate broker told Forbes that activity from out-of-state buyers searching for single-family homes has grown in mountain resort communities, such as Vail and Aspen, Colorado. Buyers of these homes want high end amenities, but the second quarter search analysis shows some are trying to just get their foot into pricey markets such as San Francisco. Other markets that once had high out-of-market interest, such as Texas, are seeing that interest drop due to surging COVID-19 cases.

In crowded housing markets hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, city dwellers are looking at where they want to live through a new lens. During the second quarter of 2020, 51% of realtor.com’s views from urban residents of the nation’s 100 largest metros went to suburban properties in their metros, a record high since the real estate listings website began tracking metro level search data in 2017.

“We see lingering effects of the coronavirus on shopping behavior and preferences,” said realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale. “In the Northeast, especially, people are now as likely as before the pandemic to be looking for a home in a market that’s not where they currently live. However, those looking elsewhere are much more likely to be looking in smaller, nearby markets.”

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