14% of Home Shoppers Look Out of State, Here's Where They're Going [New LendingTree Report]

As housing markets fluctuate, it’s not uncommon for interested homebuyers to look beyond their state. 

For our latest report, we analyzed mortgage purchase inquiries made on the LendingTree platform in all 50 states in 2024. Our analysis shows that 13.7% of home shoppers looked to buy property out of state last year. Here’s what else we found.

• For every 100 South Carolinians interested in buying out of state, 255 out-of-staters were interested in buying there — a ratio of 2.55. The next highest ratios were in Maine (2.09) and Delaware (2.08).
• California, New York and Massachusetts attracted the fewest out-of-staters. For every 100 Californians interested in buying out of state, only 30 out-of-staters expressed interest in buying there — a ratio of 0.30. The next lowest ratios were in New York (0.37) and Massachusetts (0.48).
• Out-of-state shoppers most desired Florida, Texas and Washington. Florida was the top destination for nine states’ residents looking to buy elsewhere, while Texas was the top choice for seven states’ residents. Washington state was the preferred destination by another four.
• Alaska (28.5%), Hawaii (27.9%) and Rhode Island (24.1%) shoppers were most likely to seek out-of-state homes. Conversely, shoppers in Texas (8.1%), Michigan (8.8%) and Wisconsin (9.1%) were least likely to consider real estate outside their state.

You can check out the full report and rankings here: https://www.lendingtree.com/home/mortgage/lendingtree-study-reveals-the-top-states-where-residents-are-staying-put-moving-from-and-moving-to/

LendingTree's Chief Consumer Finance Analyst, Matt Schulz, had this to say:

"It is likely not a coincidence that the most attractive states for out-of-state home shoppers are three that don't feature state income tax. Florida, Texas and Washington are all very different places in many ways, but it is hard to overstate the importance of not having a state income tax when it comes to looking for a place to live and buy property."