Homebuyers Are Fleeing California to Find Affordable Housing on the East Coast

Throughout the course of the pandemic, midwestern states reported a steady uptick in the number of migrating homebuyers coming from California. It seems that after years of record high price gains in one of America’s hottest housing markets, some buyers finally refused to keep up, but where are they going?

Manchester, NH ranked as Realtor.com’s number one hottest housing market in April thanks to burgeoning demand from droves of out-of-state buyers. Similarly, Concord, NH and Burlington, NC are attracting West Coast buyers looking for affordability and a drastic change of scenery.

“We’ve seen an influx of out-of-state buyers since the pandemic who now work from home full time and find their dollar goes a lot further in New Hampshire than it does in their current state, plus the added bonus of no state income tax or sales tax,” says broker Adam Gaudet, president of the New Hampshire Association of Realtors.

While low home prices dominated April’s hottest markets, keep in mind we’re talking about relative affordability for a particular area. In Manchester, for instance, home prices average $449,900, or $24,000 above the national median of $425,000. Still, Manchester prices are much lower than the median price of $759,000 in Boston, located two hours away.

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