Local residents are losing the opportunity to live in Texas and Florida: where affordable housing is being found

Something is loading. Thank you for registering! Ensure you have access to your favorite topics in a personalized feed when you're on the move.

Moves from Texas and Florida

As people from across the U.S. move to Florida and Texas, locals are feeling the pressure to look elsewhere for affordable housing. According to Realtor.com, the value of a typical home in Texas is up 30 percent since 2019, and in Florida it's up 42 percent over the same time period. Residents of these states are increasingly looking for homes outside of their state, indicating their willingness to search for affordable housing across the country. For Texas residents, "Midwest has become popular recently because it is, for the most part, the most affordable region," Realtor.com economic research analyst Hannah Jones told Insider. "We're seeing this trend of buyers looking for affordable housing explode." Texas has long been a relocation destination for Americans looking for affordable housing and a low cost of living. But as 884,000 people moved to the state between April 2020 and July 2022, according to Census data, housing costs skyrocketed. Many of these newcomers were from other states and could afford to pay more for homes, driving up prices for everyone, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Using the number of in-state listings viewed compared to other states, Realtor.com found that Texas residents are less likely to view real estate listings within their state compared to last year.

The impact on housing affordability

A Compass real estate agent Holly Meyer Lucas, who works in South Florida, says she's seen dozens of middle-class Florida natives sell their homes to newcomers and move to another state since 2018, when tax reforms brought many high-wage workers to the state without an income tax. Now they can't afford to go back. "What's happening is that if they want to come back to our region, their $800-a-month mortgage is no longer an option," she said. "They have to pay almost $4,000 a month to rent the same type of house." Influenced by affordability, people move to where they can afford to live. "They're moving to where everything is cheap and they don't have to wait for a spot in daycare," Meyer Lucas said. "You can say all day long that they're moving because of the Southern lifestyle. But it's not, it's about the cost of living.".