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Where Are Homebuyers Headed?

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While some cities are experiencing an increased inflow of residents from other areas, others aren’t so lucky. Realtor.com’s Q1 2018 Cross Market Demand Report [1] reveals that southern metro areas, such as those in Florida and Texas, are experiencing a high inbound/outbound ratio. That is, they are seeing more demand come in from out-of-state metros rather than closer to home.

According to the Cross Market Demand Report, six of the top 10 metros with the highest inbound/outbound ratio are located in Florida, including North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton at number one nationally, with an inbound-outbound ratio of 2.83 (down by 0.22 year-over-year). Other Florida metros in the top 10 are Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Jacksonville, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Lakeland-Winter Haven, and Cape Coral-Fort Myers.

The Cross Market Demand Report notes that much of the demand for homes in these Florida metros has come from out of state, notably from the New York-New Jersey and Chicago metro areas.

Other states included in the top 10 are Washington (Spokane-Spokane Valley), Arizona (Tucson), South Carolina (Charleston-North Charleston), and Texas (El Paso).

Meanwhile, the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara and the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward metros in California are experiencing the lowest nationwide inbound/outbound ratios, at rates of 0.18 and 0.22, respectively. What demand there is originates within California, with very little interest from out of state. Realtor.com notes that the limited affordable housing inventory is pushing residents out to other metros around California, such as Sacramento, Stockton, and Vallejo. The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area is also experiencing a low inbound-outbound ratio, as residents move even further away than the Californians, to cities such as St. Louis and Phoenix.

Realtor.com also reported which metro areas experienced the biggest improvements to their inbound/outbound ratios year-over-year. The Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio metro area saw the largest increase, from 0.53 in 2017 to 0.83 this year, a 0.30 jump.

In order to gauge inbound/outbound ratios, Realtor.com examined listings for the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country, comparing Q1 2018 to Q1 2017. "The analysis primarily focuses on a metro’s inbound to outbound ratio, which is the ratio of views to that metro from other metros, compared to views from that metro flowing to other metros," states the Realtor.com write-up.