You may have read conflicting articles about the mass “COVID migration,” in which big cities are seeing people flee to more affordable areas in the midst of the pandemic. As far as I can tell, those claims are a little bit exaggerated, even if the Bay Area as a whole is still seeing people leave.
For example, this Bloomberg article tells us that fewer people are leaving big cities overall since the beginning of stay-at-home orders, even if interest in moving is rising again. That said, some big cities (namely New York City and San Francisco) are getting more out-migration than most…and many of those people are migrating towards other large cities like Seattle and Los Angeles!
This does seem to mean that some suburbs and more affordable large cities will likely see home values rise soon. Even if young adults are leaving certain cities, they typically are not doing it because of that city itself, but because they want to try another big city out!
And though it may be true that large corporations, including some based in Silicon Valley, are leaving California for cheaper pastures like Texas, there’s very little indication that it has anything to do with desirability in our state as a whole. While cost is definitely a factor, the rise in remote working during COVID has definitely prompted people to leave the Bay Area at a higher rate.
So what does this all mean for you? If you live in a San Francisco condo, it means prices have dropped about 10% per sq. ft. Rents have also dropped, but the younger folks still gravitate to the city, so if you don’t have to sell right now, maybe wait. If you have been renting at the cities high rent rates and shelter in place means you are about to strangle your family as you need more space, then people are looking to the east bay where prices less that is a relative term – they are less then buying in the city and you get more space. The people who are moving out of the city to Walnut Creek or Sacramento, are driving prices up willing to pay in cash over the appraised value, because it seems relatively cheap or cheaper for them. If you currently have a condo in the east bay, they are sitting much longer. This is because rates are so low, and with no HOAs to pay, people qualify for a house, maybe not in the city they originally wanted i.e. Walnut Creek, but can get on in Concord or Brentwood. This is happening all over the United States. Austin TX, for a second year in a row has the hottest housing market in the country. I have seen friends that are retiring move out of California to TN, ID and Nevada. Having said all that the Bay Area remains a very attractive area to home buyers, and even with a slight uptick in move-out traffic, I don’t expect that to change anytime soon! As a side note, I do think California will need to get friendlier towards attracting and keeping business’s in the bay area and address the rising homeless population especially in San Francisco.
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