People Continue to Relocate to Florida in Record Numbers

Despite any detrimental weather events, a record high number of relocating US homebuyers are figuring, “How can we not afford to move to Florida.”

Their reasoning is for affordability’s sake, as half of the top 10 migration destinations are in Florida (Cape Coral, North Port-Sarasota and Orlando are on the list, along with Miami and Tampa), reported Redfin this week.

This, despite Hurricane Ian, one of the deadliest, most destructive storms in US history, landing in the Sunshine State in September.

In October, with no data yet to show what impact the hurricane will have had, GlobeSt.com reported that migration to Florida could fall in volume, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting (JBREC).

“Southwest Florida has ranked as one of the top destinations for net migration in the US with over 20,000 residents moving into the region in the last four years,” the firm wrote. “While we expect some slowdown in population growth in the near term, the eastern suburbs could gain market share.”

Anywhere But Here

Overall, 24.1% of U.S. homebuyers looked to move to a different metro area in the three months ending in October, which is on par with the record high of 24.2% set in the third quarter and up from roughly 18% in 2019.

Significantly higher mortgage rates, elevated inflation and a somewhat choking economy has cooled the US housing market over the second half of 2022, leading many to seek relative affordability elsewhere.

Las Vegas and Sacramento are other attractive alternatives among Sunbelt markets. Conversely, homebuyers looked to leave San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., according to Redfin.