Americans are migrating from high-priced, less affordable markets in favor of more reasonably priced areas, according to a new analysis by ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm. Population trends show residents are leaving less affordable markets—like Los Angeles County, Calif., and Kings County, N.Y.,—and are instead choosing places with median prices in the $250,000 to $300,000 range.
Three of the four top markets with the largest positive net migrations in 2017 had median prices in the $250,000 to $300,000 range—Maricopa County, Ariz. (Phoenix); Clark County, Nev. (Las Vegas); and Denton County, Texas (Dallas). The fourth market—Riverside County, Calif., in Southern California—had a slightly higher median price of $360,000.
Homeowners are moving away from pricier markets because they’re being priced out, research shows. Median home prices in the first quarter of 2018 were not affordable for average wage earners in 304 of 446 U.S. counties—or 68 percent—of those analyzed, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. On average, among those 446 counties, the average wage earner would need to spend 37.2 percent of their wage to purchase a median-priced home.
Source: “Americans Departing High-Priced Housing Markets for More Affordable Alternatives,” ATTOM Data Solutions (May 21, 2018)
