Photo by Ryan Hafey on Unsplash
An increasing number of Angelenos are willing to take a gamble on Las Vegas.
A new report from Redfin suggests that the volume of online home searchers browsing listings outside of Los Angeles has swelled by 50 percent since October of last year. The most popular market among those looking to move was Las Vegas, which captured 37.7 percent of out-of-town searches.
Sin City offers a lower cost of living, warm climate and no state income tax. Last month, the typical home sold for $317,000 in Las Vegas, compared to $735,000 in Los Angeles. While newcomers from California might have to settle for an artificial beach, the city offers high-caliber restaurants and entertainment, plus an abundance of outdoor activities and urban conveniences.
“For some people, moving from coastal California to Las Vegas is a no-brainer from a financial standpoint,” said Laura Salgues, a Redfin real estate agent in Los Angeles. “I recently worked with one couple who are both now working remotely, and they sold their expensive Los Angeles home to purchase a larger, more luxurious home in the Las Vegas suburbs.”
Phoenix was the second most common destination for Angelenos considering a move, accounting for 24.1 percent of all out-of-town searches. The median home sale price in the state capital was $325,000 in October, up more than 19 percent year-over-year. The report also noted that California transplants may have helped Arizona turn blue in the recent presidential election.
Nationwide, Las Vegas and Phoenix ranked among the top three destinations for Redfin users seeking to relocate, ousted by Sacramento, which saw a 75 percent boost in its net number of inbound searches. The majority (72.1 percent) of out-of-town users browsing listings in Sacramento were from the Bay Area, where home prices are substantially higher.
With the proliferation of remote work, the number of Americans dreaming of a new life in an affordable, mid-size city is rising. In October, 28.5 percent of Redfin users browsed for homes in another metro area, up 3.6 percent over the same period last year.
Nearly all of the top ten destinations lie within the sunbelt. Rounding out Redfin’s list were the cities of Austin, Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville, Tampa, Charlotte and Miami.
