As the cost of buying a home has grown more expensive, home buyers’ home searches have grown more expansive. These days, buyers are willing to look farther from home, pushing the share of out-of-market home views of online listings higher and higher. In fact, according to a new analysis from the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website, they rose again over the past year, increasing to 60.1 percent from 59.1 percent one year earlier. For comparison, out-of-market searches were at 48.2 percent pre-pandemic. Jiayi Xu, senior economist at the website, says jobs and affordability are the main reasons buyers look outside their own metros. “Home shoppers are increasingly looking beyond the market where they live, but the reasons vary by metro,” Xu said. “In lower-cost markets, affordability gives residents a reason to stay and attracts shoppers from more expensive places. Where prices have outrun local budgets, shoppers are looking farther afield, sometimes toward a more affordable nearby market and sometimes toward a stronger job center.” (source)
