San Antonio was one of the top 10 migration destinations in 2021 and the out-of-town buyers helped drive home prices up, according to Real Estate company Redfin.
The Alamo City ranked No. 10 on Redfin’s list that combined Redfin home search data with U.S Census Bureau data.
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Phoenix was the most popular migration destination last year, gaining roughly 85,000 residents from other metro areas. It is estimated that San Antonio brought in nearly 24,000 residents from other places.
Half of the cities on the list had a median home-sale price below December’s national median price of $383,000.
While San Antonio’s median home prices skyrocketed over $300,000 for the first time in 2021, December’s median of $308,600 here was still the lowest median price of any city on the list and the only Texas city on the list with a median price below the national median.
Dallas and Austin also made the migration destination list, at No. 2 and No. 6, respectively.
What all the cities on the list had in common though was home-price growth that was well above the national growth rate of 15% year-over-year.
San Antonio’s 18.7% year-over-year growth was the lowest on that list — Austin was the highest at 30.3%.
| (Source: Redfin) | Metro Area | Net inflow | Median Home Price | Median Home Price Year-Over-Year | Average Monthly Rent Payment, New Leases | Average Monthly Rent Payment, New Leases, Year-Over-Year | Number of Homes for Sale, Year-Over-Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phoenix, AZ | 85,183 | $435,200 | 28% | $2,107 | 26% | -18.6% |
| 2 | Dallas, TX | 56,449 | $385,000 | 20.3% | $2,081 | 28.5% | -27.6% |
| 3 | Orlando, FL | 52,621 | $356,000 | 22.8% | $2,050 | 28.8% | -29% |
| 4 | Atlanta, GA | 37,970 | $350,000 | 22.8% | $2,016 | 12.1% | -27.4% |
| 5 | Tampa, FL | 37,440 | $338,000 | 24.3% | $2,076 | 28.1% | -8% |
| 6 | Austin, TX | 32,184 | $482,100 | 30.3% | $2,290 | 39.9% | -6.5% |
| 7 | Las Vegas, NV | 31,701 | $399,400 | 24.8% | $1,820 | 25.2% | 27.7% |
| 8 | Charlotte, NC | 28,546 | $357,000 | 20.4% | $1,730 | 11.5% | -31.4% |
| 9 | Denver, CO | 25,665 | $540,000 | 19.5% | $2,661 | 19% | -26.8% |
| 10 | San Antonio, TX | 23,909 | $308,600 | 18.7% | $1,386 | 11.5% | -17.8% |
According to Redfin, the migration is helping fuel the rapid price growth in these markets, because in most cases they had a budget that was higher than the average local resident’s budget.
Redfin cited Austin as an example of this. While the city’s median home price of $482,100 is high by Texas standards, the average budget for migrants moving to the city was $855,000. That’s 32% higher than the average Austin budget, Redfin said.
“Moving across the country is now easier for many Americans, thanks to remote work. That cultural shift is here to stay,” said Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr in a press release. “What’s changing is the affordability of the most popular destinations. Some locals, particularly renters who aren’t able to take advantage of rising home values, are getting priced out of places like Phoenix and Austin as the cost of housing and other goods and services go up. New construction tends to be robust in sprawling Sun Belt cities, and local governments ought to continue to prioritize building new homes to keep up with ongoing demand.”