San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York Housing Markets Experienced Most Outbound Migration in 2019

Phoenix, Sacramento, Las Vegas Top Inbound homebuyer markets in Q4, 2019

Redfin is reporting this week that twenty-six percent of online home searchers looked to move to another U.S. metro area in the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to 25% during the same period last year. This ties the all-time high for the national share of home-searchers looking to relocate that was set in the third quarter of 2019.

The latest migration analysis is based on a sample of more than 1 million Redfin.com users who searched for homes across 87 metro areas from October through December.

Moving In -- Top U.S. Metros Attracting the Most Migrants

Portland, Oregon regained a spot in the top 10 list of metro areas with the highest net inflow of Redfin users, coming in at seventh after falling out of the list in Q1 of 2019. Nashville was also a new addition to the top 10 this month at number 10. San Diego and Charlotte both fell out of the top 10.

Phoenix moved back into the number one spot in the fourth quarter after slipping to third place in the third quarter. Boston's reign at number one was short-lived: after one quarter at the top it fell to ninth place.

At just $400,000, Portland has one of the most affordable median home prices among major West Coast cities, which makes it an attractive location for inbound residents from other more expensive cities across the west coast such as San Francisco (median price $1.32 million), Seattle ($572,500) and Los Angeles ($649,000).

"The ability to work remotely is a huge factor in people relocating, especially within the same time zone," said Portland Redfin agent Megan Warren. "I just met with a homebuyer who is moving here from Oakland in the spring. Working remotely is allowing him to sell his condo in a less desirable part of the Bay Area for over $500,000 and buy a serious upgrade in space, safety, and neighborhood in the Portland area."

Moving Out -- U.S. Metros Losing the Most Migrants

Some of the most expensive areas in the country dominated the list of metros facing negative migration. New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., were among the cities with the greatest number of people looking to move away in the fourth quarter.

"The current inventory crunch really started building in the fourth quarter, 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."