- Home prices in Texas and Florida have risen 30% and 42% since 2019, according to Realtor.com.
- Texans are increasingly looking to the Midwest for affordability, the real estate website found.
- Florida residents are looking for homes in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina.
As people across the U.S. move to Florida and Texas, locals are feeling squeezed — and looking elsewhere for affordable housing.
The typical cost of a home in Texas has increased 30% since 2019, according to Realtor.com, and 42% in Florida over the same time period.
These residents are looking for more and more Realtor.com for homes outside of their state, suggesting they are willing to chase affordability across the country.
For Texans, “the Midwest has become popular recently because it's generally the most affordable area,” Hannah Jones, economic research analyst for Realtor.com, told Insider. “We're seeing this trend of shoppers looking for affordability really exploding.”
Texas has long been the point of immigration Americans are looking for affordable housing and a low cost of living. But as 884,000 people moved into the state between April 2020 and July 2022, according to the Census data, the cost of housing soared.
Many of these newcomers were out-of-state who could afford to pay more for homes, driving up prices for everyone, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Using the number of listings viewed within the state compared to other states, Realtor.com found that Texans are searching for properties for sale within their state less than this time last year.
Wisconsin and Minnesota saw the largest year-over-year increase in search volume from Texas last quarter, according to Realtor.com data. Tennessee, Colorado and Missouri followed.
Floridians are also priced out and looking elsewhere
Meanwhile, Florida residents are eyeing homes nearby.
According to Realtor.com, searches for real estate in Florida are down, while searches from Florida for real estate in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama are up.
Compass Realtor Holly Meyer Lucas, who is based in South Florida, said she has seen dozens of middle-class, native Floridians sell their homes to newcomers and move out of state since 2018, when tax reform drove many high wages the state without income tax. Now, they can't afford to go back.
“What's happening is if they want to move back to our area, their $800 a month mortgage is no longer an option,” he said. “They have to pay almost $4,000 a month to rent the same type of house.”
Driven by affordability, people move where they can afford.
“They'll go where things are cheap and they don't have to wait on a daycare list,” Meyer Lucas said. “You can tell all day they're moving because of the southern lifestyle. It's not that, it's the cost of living.”
