House Hunters Are Fleeing These Cities

The nation’s largest blue cities are hemorrhaging residents at a record rate. New data shows where house hunters are moving, according to Redfin.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, 18.8 percent of house hunters across the United States were looking to relocate to a different part of the country.

This was up from 17.9 percent a year earlier and 15.9 percent five years ago during the COVID pandemic period, real estate brokerage Redfin said in a March 10 statement.

Declining mortgage rates are encouraging many to stick that for sale sign in their yards. For the week ending March 4, the home mortgage rate was 6 percent, down a full point from the end of the Biden administration.

“Migration from one part of the country to another ticked up in 2025 as mortgage rates eased and more homes came on the market. While home sales were still slow, more buyers and renters were able to relocate,” Redfin said.

Los Angeles and New York, the most famous blue cities, topped the list of metros with the most homebuyers fleeing. This was followed by the nation’s other leading liberal cities: San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago. All five cities are self-described “sanctuary cities.”

“This net out migration from California is a more than two-decade-long trend. And again, we’re a big state, so the net out numbers are big,” stated John Taylor, U-Haul International president.

Sacramento, the lone outlier of progressive cities in the destination list, was driven by low housing costs. It’s average home price is half of the state average. The list of destinations for relocation are filled with red-state cities like Cape Coral-Fort Myers, North Port-Sarasota, and Miami.

South Carolina and Tennessee are listed as other popular destinations for homebuyers in the fourth quarter, according to Redfin.

–Metro Voice and The Epoch Times