The 2021 Allied x Zillow Magnet States Report

Key Takeaways from the 2021 Allied x Zillow Magnet States Report

Housing Trends

•  The average long distance mover in 2021 moved to a ZIP code where homes were about $35,800 cheaper than where they came from, amplifying a trend that first broke out in 2020, when movers began migrating from pricier to much more affordable locales.
•  The comparable average ZIP-level price decline in 2020 was about $29,500. Before the pandemic, people tended to move to ZIP codes with very similar average prices: the average ZIP-level price change was only a decrease of less than $7,500 in each year from 2016 to 2019.
•  The larger affordability gradient this year was driven by a remarkable rise in the average home value of people’s origin ZIP codes: it rose by 14.0%, to reach $480,736. But, reflecting the year’s hot housing market, the average value of homes in ZIP codes where interstate movers ended up in 2021 also rose substantially; by 13.5%, to $444,932.
•  The top destinations for net inbound moves in 2021 are mid-priced growing Sunbelt metro areas, while the top origins for net outbound moves are in places that are colder, pricier, or both.
•  Some of 2020’s top destinations have lost their affordability edge, and now they’re attracting fewer movers.
•  This year, people moving into the Phoenix metro area are moving from ZIP codes with an average home value of $528,712, and moving into ones in the Phoenix area where homes are worth roughly the same: $526,993, on average, or only about $1,700 less. In the comparable data for 2020, people moving to Phoenix saw ZIP-level price savings averaging over $48,000.
•  The diminished home price savings for people moving to Phoenix in 2021 reflects the likely effects of 2020’s demand surge, which drove up the cost of homes in those metro areas faster than in any other major metropolitan area, thereby potentially shrinking the pool of movers in 2021.