Houston's Post Pandemic Population Boom
Texas has been an attractive place to move for the past decade thanks to its pro-business environment, relatively affordable housing, and friendly charm.
In 2018 a wave of Californians came to Texas, shortly after the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017. Most recently, the onset of COVID in 2020 brought another wave of newcomers. The people who are moving to Texas are mostly property owners versus renters.
The number of newcomers from California has been especially high over the past few years! New York and New Jersey are next in line for largest number of people moving to Texas. LA and New York account for the highest numbers. Almost 10% of our team's transactions last year, was from people relocating from CA or NJ/NY TO Texas.
Texas's migration levels have been significantly higher than the national average, but it's uncertain whether 2022 levels will be like those of the past two years. However, because of Texas' strong job potential and relatively affordable housing, the number of those moving here will likely remain high.
Although the total number of interstate homeowner moves has increased, the share of those moves compared with local moves has not. Since the pandemic, local homeowners have been moving to nearby suburbs at a higher rate!
Taking all this into account, the market will probably not cool off anytime soon!
Check out the below graph with information from the US Census Bureau explaining what brings people to move:
