Texas is No. 2 for relocation in the U.S., according to the Texas Relocation Report recently released by the Texas Association of REALTORS®. Analyzing the latest migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the report marks the fourth consecutive year that Texas experienced a gross inflow of more than 500,000 residents from out of state.
“Despite slowing job and economic growth over the last two years, housing market and population growth have remained strong and steady throughout the state,” says Kaki Lybbert, 2018 chairman of the Texas Association of REALTORS®. “With more than half a million people moving here each year, it’s evident that the Lone Star State fosters a positive environment for business development and raising a family.”
According to the report, Texas welcomed 531,996 total new residents in 2016. This is less than the number of out-of-state residents who moved to Texas in 2015 (553,032), but the net gain of out-of-state residents in Texas in 2016 was still positive, at 87,656 residents.
Nearly half of the gross inflow of residents to Texas originated from outside of the U.S. Among U.S. states, the highest number of new Texans relocated from California (69,945), Florida (31,145), Oklahoma (30,532), Louisiana (27,998) and Illinois (21,848).
Texas ranked third in the nation for number of residents moving out of state (444,340) in 2016, but fewer people moved from Texas to other states compared to the previous report. The most popular out-of-state relocation destinations for Texans were California (39,109), Florida (31,153), Oklahoma (28,060), Louisiana (21,925), and Colorado (20,725).
At the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, New York-Newark-Jersey City and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin produced the highest volume of residents relocating to Texas. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington recorded the highest number of incoming residents from out-of-state (123,661), followed by Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land (104,811).
At the county level, Harris County led the state, with a net gain of 20,942 residents relocating from out of state, but four of the top 10 counties with the highest net gain of out-of-state residents were in North Texas (Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties). Three of the top 10 counties were located in Central Texas (Travis, Williamson and Bell counties).
“The Texas Triangle is a magnet for relocation activity and real estate development across the state,” Lybbert says. “As these large MSAs like Austin and San Antonio continue to fuse together, it’s becoming increasingly important for our local and state leaders to think about housing development and affordability from a regional perspective. Texas REALTORS®, too, are learning to serve and be knowledgeable about larger and larger market areas.”
For more information, please visit TexasRealEstate.com.
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