By Lindsey Wells
Miami has emerged as the most popular migration destination in the U.S., according to a recent Redfin report.
The city led out-of-state home searches on Redfin, followed by Sacramento, CA, then by Phoenix, AZ, Las Vegas, NV and Tampa, FL. The data is based on a sample of about 2 million Redfin.com users who searched for homes across 112 metro areas.
Nearly 34% of those searching for homes in Miami lived outside the area. The net inflow of Redfin users to the city was three times higher in July than a year earlier, rising from 2,216 to 7,610.
“Miami has always been a melting pot, but the pandemic has brought even more out-of-towners to the area because so many people can now work from wherever they want. Homebuyers are now moving here from all over the map — Atlanta, Cincinnati, New York, Columbia, Mexico City, Pittsburgh and Philly, to name a few,” Miami Redfin real estate agent Milagros Alvarez said in the report.
House hunters in New York generated the most searches for Miami properties, the data showed.
Threats of storms and rising sea levels in the Sunshine State have done little to dampen its appeal among buyers. According to First Street Foundation’s Flood Factor, more than half (59%) of Miami’s properties are at risk for floods. Still, most of Alvarez’s clients don’t view these factors as dealbreakers.
“The homebuyers I talk to rarely mention climate change. Most of them aren’t concerned,” Alvarez said. “A lot of people seem to have this idea that it won’t impact them in their lifetime, so it doesn’t need to be a consideration when buying a home.”
“Many people who move to Miami are thinking about the short-term benefits of living in such a vibrant, beautiful and prosperous city,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather pointed out in the report. “We know from the recent U.N. climate report that places like Miami will see the impacts of climate change within the next 30 years. Miami homebuyers should think about how they can make their homes more resilient to climate change, and how their finances would be impacted if their homes lost value.”