SAN FRANCISCO, February 2, 2012 – Trulia today released the latest findings from its Metro Movers Report – the first housing report that starts with where homebuyers and renters are today and provides the inside scoop on where they want to live tomorrow. The Winter 2012 report examines all property searches on Trulia.com among all U.S. metropolitan areas between October 1 and December 31, 2011.
House Hunters Near and Far Eye Florida Real Estate
Of the top 10 metros where demand among online house hunters is strongest, seven are located in the Sunshine state. Even with a backlog of homes unable to complete the foreclosure process, big price declines mean more people are looking to move to Florida than leave. In fact, one-third of all the home searches in Miami on Trulia.com originate from people living more than 500 miles away. As for who is looking at Florida, there are clear geographic preferences between house hunters in New York and Chicago. New York is the top source of long distance (100 miles or more) home searches for properties along the Atlantic coast and Central Florida (e.g., Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach). Meanwhile, more searches for Gulf Coast homes (e.g., North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota and Cape Coral) come from Chicago than from anywhere else.
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Where Demand Among Online House Hunters Is Strongest |
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# |
U.S. Metropolitan Area |
# of Inbound Searches Per Outbound Search |
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1 |
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL |
8.80 |
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2 |
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL |
7.60 |
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3 |
North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL |
6.62 |
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4 |
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL |
2.59 |
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5 |
Tulsa, OK |
2.48 |
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6 |
West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, FL |
2.46 |
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7 |
Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL |
2.44 |
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8 |
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA |
2.43 |
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9 |
Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC |
2.40 |
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10 |
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL |
2.30 |
NOTE: The inbound-to-outbound ratio for a metro area divides the number of incoming property searches by out-of-towners by the number of outgoing property searches by locals looking to leave. A ratio of 2 means that there are twice as many home searches by people looking to move in than leave.
New York City Draws House Hunters from Mid-Atlantic States
More people are looking to leave big metros – such as Newark, San Jose, Philadelphia and Seattle – than move in. For most of them, their top destinations are in the South and Southwest. For example, Atlanta is the top search destination from Newark, and Phoenix is the top destination from Chicago. House hunters from Washington DC, Bethesda and Baltimore are exceptions to this trend, looking north to New York.
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Where Demand Among Online House Hunters Is Weakest |
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# |
U.S. Metropolitan Area |
# of Outbound Searches Per Inbound Search |
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1 |
Newark-Union, NJ-PA |
3.65 |
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2 |
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA |
2.60 |
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3 |
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV |
2.54 |
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4 |
Philadelphia, PA |
2.40 |
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5 |
Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, MD |
2.25 |
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6 |
New Haven-Milford, CT |
2.21 |
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7 |
Baltimore-Towson, MD |
2.17 |
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8 |
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA |
2.11 |
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9 |
Camden, NJ |
2.11 |
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10 |
Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA |
2.04 |
NOTE: The outbound-to-inbound ratio for a metro area divides the number of outgoing property searches by locals looking to leave by the number of incoming property searches by out-of-towners. A ratio of 2 means that there are twice as many home searches by people looking to leave than move in.
Best-Kept Secret Neighborhoods Across America
While most house hunters search for homes for sale or rentals across town, more than one-third of searches are to homes at least 100 miles away. Out-of-towners tend to look in the most well-known neighborhoods: Tribeca in New York, Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, Miami Beach in Miami, Pacific Heights in San Francisco and Georgetown in Washington DC. However, every city has “best-kept secret” neighborhoods where locals want to live. Using the same analysis behind the Metro Movers report, Trulia reveals the desirable neighborhoods in major cities that out-of-towners typically overlook.
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U.S. City |
Best-Kept Secret Neighborhood |
Zip Code |
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Hunters Point (Long Island City, Queens) |
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La Brea / Hancock Park |
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West Town / Wicker Park |
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Diamond Heights / Glen Park |
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Key Biscayne |
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Logan Circle |
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Fort Point / Seaport District |
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Spring Branch East |
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Greenway Parks |
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Sunset Hill / North Beach |
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Bella Vista / Southwark |
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Virginia-Highland |
PRE-APPROVED QUOTES
- “Today’s house hunters are deal seekers, who focus their search in places where prices are low. Although locals in Florida, inland California and the Southwest are suffering from high foreclosure rates and lost equity, huge prices declines since the height of the housing bubble have drawn house hunters from across the country,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s Chief Economist. “As America’s retirement capital, Florida has received the most attention from prospective homebuyers and renters from the Northeast and Midwest. Baby-boomers who had planned to retire to cheaper places elsewhere in the South during the boom years can once again buy in Florida.”
- “Finding the best place to live in a new and unfamiliar place can be tough. House hunters naturally start their search in a city’s famous neighborhoods – such as Beverly Hills, Tribeca, or Miami Beach – but don’t know to look in the neighborhoods that are favored by locals,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s Chief Economist. “To help these prospective homebuyers and renters, we’re giving them the inside scoop on where locals want to live – places that are often overlooked by out-of-towners. Some of these best-kept-secret neighborhoods have seen recent gentrification or redevelopment; others have been quietly upscale neighborhoods for decades.”
MULTIMEDIA
- To view a slideshow of the full results, click here.
- To view an interactive data visual of the findings, click here.
- To view a list of the full rankings for the largest U.S. metros, click here.
- To check out Trulia’s current and archived industry reports and consumer surveys, click here.
METHODOLOGY
Trulia defines a metropolitan area’s future housing demand as being strong or weak based on the number of incoming property searches by out-of-towners versus the number of outgoing property searches by locals. After adjusting for total views and site coverage, almost 100 million property views were included in this study. The Winter 2012 report only considers property searches by house hunters in all U.S. metros who looked at homes at least 100 miles away from where they currently live.
ABOUT TRULIA, INC.
Trulia is the fastest growing online real estate resource, empowering buyers, sellers and renters with smarter tools to help them find the right home. Trulia gives you the inside scoop to help you find the best place to live. Our smart and personalized real estate search experience brings together vital local information, community insights, market data, and national listings all in one place. Trulia is headquartered in downtown San Francisco and is backed by Accel Partners and Sequoia Capital. Trulia and the Trulia logo are registered trademarks of Trulia, Inc.
