Population drain persists in big cities
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People aren't moving to big city centers like they used to, even as employers ramp up calls to return to the office.
Why it matters: Affordability is still drawing folks to less dense and cheaper areas, particularly those in the booming Sun Belt.
Driving the news: A new report from the National Association of Realtors showed that major metro areas like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago saw more people leaving than moving in.
- Instead, people fled to cities in Florida, Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina.
- The Miami metro area experienced the largest inbound increase from before the pandemic, which saw gains of nearly 60% in 2022 compared to 2019. Houston experienced the highest move-in rate for 2022.
What they're saying: "Pre-pandemic, we had a different trend. People wanted to move to big city centers," Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of real estate research at the National Association of Realtors, tells Axios.
- More people are moving to those cities compared to 2021 but "we're not there yet," Evangelou says of metro areas regaining the population that fled.
Between the lines: Across the board, the report found, fewer people moved last year, continuing a trend from 2021.
- The report analyzed the United States Postal Service’s change-of-address data to spot migration trends.
- Nearly 70% of U.S. ZIP codes posted fewer inbound moves in 2022 compared to 2021, according to the data.
- The slowdown has persisted as droves of people sought more space and cheaper cost of living during the pandemic.
