At least 32% of real estate agents said they have worked with clients who relocated over the past year due to state or local laws or politics, as stated in a new report.
In a Redfin-commissioned survey published Tuesday, 32% of 500 real estate agents who participated in the study said they had at least one client who moved to a different metro area due to the gun laws, reproductive rights laws, LGBTQIA laws, and tax policies. The Redfin survey noted that home buyers are relocating either to locations where the laws align with their own views or places where their neighbors share similar political views.
"I know at least 10 people who have moved away from Texas in the last year, mainly because they don't agree with state laws," Andrew Vallejo, an Austin Redfin Premier agent, said in the report. "They all moved to the West Coast, to blue places where the policies align better with their personal views, specifically when it comes to women's reproductive rights and LGBTQ rights."
Having said that, the real estate firm noted that housing affordability often outweighed political preference or local laws when home buyers choose where to live.
Where Are Americans Relocating?
A record 26% of American home buyers were planning to relocate to a different part of the United States as of September last year, per a separate Redfin report.
Some of the most common migration routes for home buyers in 2023 were from Democratic states to Republican or swing states. These include San Francisco to Austin, Seattle to Phoenix, and New York to Orlando and other parts of Florida. The report noted that the migration routes were largely due to housing affordability but also said some home buyers relocated to live in a more conservative state.
"Many conservative states have policies that attract business-minded residents, like lower taxes and fewer restrictions on companies," the company said in the report. "Other people leave blue states for red states to live near people with similar views; for instance, this couple moved from California to Idaho partly because they felt freedom to display a 'Thin Blue Line' banner."
