15 Cities That Owned the Wild 2020 Market

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In 2020, home buyers left states with high taxes and pricey housing in favor of lower-cost metro areas, such as Texas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, according to CoreLogic’s 2020 Hottest Cities for Homebuyers Report.

“The pandemic created a perfect recipe for consistently employed Americans,” said Archana Pradhan, CoreLogic’s principal economist. “If it had been any other mix of events, for example, if low housing inventory was coupled with job inflexibility, we wouldn’t have had such a large group of homebuying consumers feeling empowered to make bold moves in their living situations.”

The top 15 metros on CoreLogic’s hottest cities for home buyers report for 2020 tended to tout affordability with lower costs per square foot, lower property taxes, and no state income taxes. Also, sunny climates that offer lots of outdoor amenities tended to be a big draw.

The 15 metros with the highest inbound migration in 2020 were:

1. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.
2. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.
3. Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, S.C.-N.C.
4. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.
5. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.
6. Port St. Lucie, Fla.
7. Jacksonville, Fla.
8. San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas
9. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla.
10. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
11. Stockton, Calif.
12. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.
13. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, Ariz.
14. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.
15. Greeley, Colo.

Meanwhile, the cities with the highest outbound migrations in 2020 were New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.; and San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, Calif.