According to a recent Realtor.com report, 58.9% of online home shoppers in the 100 largest U.S. metros looked outside of their current metro in the second quarter of 2025, up from 48.1% in 2019, as buyers search for homes that better fit their lifestyle needs, job flexibility, and budgets. This is because affordability is still out of reach for many people.
“Affordability remains a primary driver of home searches, but evolving workplace policies, job opportunities and shifting local conditions also play a role. As regional housing trends diverge, home shoppers tapped the brakes compared to a year ago, but accelerated their searches elsewhere compared to 2019, across the 100 largest metros with sizable variation across markets,” said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com. “Despite the year over year step back, Americans continue to take a broader view of where they can live, often looking beyond their current metro areas in hopes of stretching their dollar and improving their lifestyle.”
Due to affordability issues, a large number of present residents left their markets, causing big cities to dominate the top ten metro areas. The largest percentage of outbound search traffic came from San Jose, California, where 93.7% of shoppers looked at listings from other locations. Over one-third of such action was directed entirely outside of California.
The top three metro areas with the highest percentage of locals considering an out-of-metro relocation were Washington, D.C. (86.4%), Seattle (80.5%), and Salt Lake City (77%). Big cities like New York, Boston, and Chicago notably joined the top 10 metro areas with the highest out-of-market search rates, which is indicative of both rising unemployment and property prices.
| Market | Out of Market Share2025Q2 | Rank (2025-Q2) | Rank (2024-Q2) |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 93.7 % | 1 | 1 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 86.4 % | 2 | 2 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 80.5 % | 3 | 4 |
| Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | 77.0 % | 4 | 7 |
| Stockton-Lodi, CA | 72.9 % | 5 | 5 |
| Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | 72.6 % | 6 | 9 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 72.6 % | 7 | 11 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 72.1 % | 8 | 8 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 72.0 % | 9 | 26 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 71.7 % | 10 | 12 |
A number of areas that experienced a spike in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic are now seeing an increase in outbound interest as return-to-office mandates and affordability erosion occur.
Over the previous six years, Phoenix’s out-of-market view percentage increased by 28.5 percentage points. Similar jumps of 27.7 and 21.3 points were recorded in Spokane, WA, and Fresno, CA, respectively. because to rising housing prices and buyers shifting their focus to larger, higher-wage, high-employment regions like Austin and San Antonio, McAllen, Texas, which formerly drew buyers during the pandemic because to its low cost of living, is currently experiencing a decline.
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