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Escape from L.A. & N.Y.: Renters Seek Lower Prices
Rising rents are leading people considering a relocation to a different metro area to increasingly search for homes and apartments in more affordable places, according to a new HotPads analysis. Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C. all saw an increase in the number of renters searching for homes outside their area, and residents who did look elsewhere were most likely to look somewhere with a more affordable median rent.
Joshua Clark, an economist at HotPads, says, “Renters in more expensive markets may be able to find relief by looking elsewhere, but even in the country’s less expensive markets, affordability can be a challenge for locals. Renters fleeing expensive markets can potentially drive up demand in their new hometown, which in turn can impact prices – especially if there’s a noticeable difference in incomes between two nearby areas.”
In 44 of the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, renters looking from outside the metro area are most likely to be searching from a place with a more expensive median rent. Meanwhile, in five of the other six metro areas, the share of renters searching from within the metro for homes and apartments to rent has decreased in the past year – indicating that fewer renters in these comparatively expensive places are searching locally in general.
Renters in Los Angeles were the most likely outside group to be searching for homes and apartments in Riverside, where the median rent is $985 less per month.
|
Metro Area |
Median Rent | Median Rent YoY | Share of Rental Searches that were Local – 2019 |
Share of Rental Searches that were Local – 2018 |
Most Common |
| United States | $1,560 | 3.2% | NA | NA | NA |
| New York, NY | $2,425 | 2.0% | 82.5% | 83.2% | Philadelphia, PA |
| Los Angeles, CA | $3,015 | 3.9% | 77.9% | 78.0% | New York, NY |
| Chicago, IL | $1,820 | 2.3% | 82.1% | 82.5% | New York, NY |
| Dallas-Fort Worth, TX |
$1,720 | 3.3% | 73.4% | 70.9% | Austin, TX |
| Philadelphia, PA |
$1,720 | 3.1% | 66.5% | 63.0% | New York, NY |
| Houston, TX | $1,605 | 1.2% | 76.7% | 74.6% | Chicago, IL |
| Washington, DC |
$2,220 | 2.4% | 68.0% | 69.7% | New York, NY |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL |
$2,055 | 2.5% | 73.8% | 77.6% | New York, NY |
| Atlanta, GA | $1,530 | 5.5% | 72.9% | 75.5% | New York, NY |
| Boston, MA | $2,480 | 3.1% | 70.8% | 73.5% | New York, NY |
| San Francisco, CA |
$3,600 | 3.5% | 62.6% | 63.1% | San Jose, CA |
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