A report from financial services company Bankrate indicated that the median price of a home in Florida in September was approximately $400,000. This makes it a top destination for homebuyers, as average prices in other states are much higher. Five of the top ten cities preferred by Americans looking to relocate are in the Sunshine State.
According to real estate website Redfin, one in four Americans (24.1%) are looking to move. Five Floridian cities: Miami, Tampa, Cape Coral, North Port-Sarasota and Orlando are among the 10 most popular for relocation. The other cities rounding out the list were Sacramento, Calif.; Las Vegas; San Diego; Phoenix and Dallas.
San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Boston and Chicago were the six metropolitan areas with the highest median home prices in the United States. Due to this, Americans are looking for new places where buying a home is more affordable. Per Bankrate data, the median home price in New York is approximately $850,000 and in Los Angeles $750,000.
Crime pushes residents away
Price is not the only reason that may prompt a change of residence. Crime is also a significant factor for prospective homebuyers. Several sanctuary cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have seen crime increase. As a result, there are citizens who choose to move in search of safer homes.
For example, Chicago and Los Angeles are in the ranking of the 30 cities with the highest homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants, according to The Heritage Foundation. In other such cities, such as Philadelphia and St. Louis, crime has soared. Notably, these cities have progressive prosecutors backed by far-left tycoon George Soros.
Inflation, mortgages, taxes...
High inflation, which saw a slight downturn in November, and increasing mortgage rates are causing citizens to migrate from more expensive cities like New York or Boston to those such as Miami.
"With a recession looming and household expenses high, many people can’t afford to buy a home in an expensive area and/or want to save money in case of an emergency, which makes relocating somewhere more affordable an attractive option," said Redfin's Head of Economic Research Chen Zhao.
Taxes are also higher in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. In New York State, the tax rate this year stood at 12.75%, the highest in the United States. That rate in California was 9.72% and in Illinois was 9.70%. In contrast, Florida (6.64%) has the sixth-lowest tax rate of the 50 states.
Democratic cities the worst-run
Another reason why relocations are becoming so common may be linked to governments. According to Wallethub, the cities that are seeing people leave are mostly run by Democrats, such as New York (Eric Adams), Chicago (Lori Lightfoot) and Washington (Muriel Bowser).
Wallethub based its ranking on the quality of services and their cost per capita, among other indicators.
