Majority of American homeowners want to cash in — and move somewhere more affordable
Whether it's affordability, remote work or just plain restlessness, more city dwellers are motivated to take their house hunt farther afield. Close to 60% of urban home shoppers searched for listings outside of their metros last quarter, according to new Realtor.com data.
The results suggest that pricey cities and COVID-era boomtowns alike are losing some of their former luster.
4 Home shoppers in every region of the US are browsing outside of their metros.
Rido – stock.adobe.com
4 Pricey San Jose, California lost the most popularity among locals.
diak – stock.adobe.com
Six years ago, before the pandemic turned the housing market on its head, the proportion of city dwellers looking to leave their local rat race was roughly 48%. In 2019, only Western states demonstrated such high proportions of out-of-metro home searches.
The recent Realtor.com report revealed that the same wanderlust — or desperation — now extends to every other US region.
It's clear that shoppers in increasingly expensive metros are looking for an out. San Jose, California topped the Realtor.com list of 100 metros, with 93.7% of local home searches directed at listings outside of the city last quarter.
The sunny city notched the country's highest median sales price for single-family homes earlier this year, reaching an eye-watering $2.02 million.
Pricey metros like Washington, DC and Seattle trailed in second and third place in the quarterly search data. The increase in out-of-metro home searches in DC notably coincided with federal layoffs.
The nationwide share of these far-out searches has hovered around 60% in recent months, as Americans weigh their fast-paced urban lifestyles against elevated mortgage rates and high housing prices.
4 Residents in Northeastern cities like New York City and Boston are increasingly turning their sights elsewhere.
Tierney – stock.adobe.com
4 Portland gained popularity among its residents over the past six years.
Andy – stock.adobe.com
New York City's out-of-metro share of searches surpassed 70% this spring. Chicagoans and Bostonites are also being driven away, according to the report, with the out-of-metro share of searches hovering around 72% in both cities.
While shoppers in the Western US are historically more likely to look out of bounds for their next home, the Northeast is catching up. The share of Northeastern homebuyers looking outside of their metros increased from 45.4% in 2019 to 58.8% today.
Home search data from 2019 to 2025 revealed a larger economic picture of the market shift, in which declines in popularity largely tracked with increases in listing prices and unemployment rates.
The runaway popularity of COVID-19 boomtowns like McAllen, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona lost some of their appeal amid steep hikes in home prices and back-to-work mandates.
Not everyone is so eager to leave home, however. San Francisco notably gained popularity over the past six years. Despite the city's high cost of living, home prices budged only 4% and price tags pale in comparison to San Jose. Portland, Oregon locals demonstrated the highest increase in local interest, with a nearly 10% decline in out-of-metro searches over the last six years.
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