Most people moving out-of-county in the Bay Area move to an adjacent county (often to more affordable, less densely populated counties), or to the circle of even more affordable California counties outside the Bay Area. There has also been significant, recent migration to other areas such as Lake Tahoe and San Diego. Within the Bay Area, the general direction is from more expensive housing locations to more affordable markets (but there are many exceptions).
Since the pandemic struck, migration and population changes often played out differently between homeowners of varying types (house, condo, etc.), tenants, and university students (as schools closed and reopened), with differing effects on county housing markets. The pandemic also had some significant effects, presumably temporary, on birth and death rates.
Per U.S. Census data, when moving out of state, Bay Area and California residents mostly choose states with no state income tax (Texas, Nevada, Washington, Florida), other adjacent states (Arizona, with a much lower state income tax rate, and Oregon) and/or states with major high tech centers (Texas, Washington). Colorado is also typically in the top 7. All of which have lower housing costs. California has the highest state income taxes for affluent residents in the country.
People moving into the Bay Area come from everywhere - including some coming from foreign countries. Even as domestic migration rates have turned negative in recent years, foreign immigration rates have typically stayed positive (after plunging in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic hitting).
By far, the largest percentage of buyers in the North Bay are from the Bay Area and Southern California (estimated to be over 90%). There is often a lot of 2-way traffic between locations: for example, between Bay Area counties; between SoCal or New York and the Bay Area; between Texas or Washington and California. Hundreds of thousands of residents move within, into and out of the Bay Area every year.
At Imagine Marin, we take extra steps through targeted internet marketing to ensure that we cast the widest net possible. These extra efforts include pictures and videos posted and promoted to our networking groups, as well as YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn and more. For example, we have over 3,000 followers on YouTube and a total of ~481,000 views (we are excited about reaching the 500,000 views milestone later this year). Our focus on video marketing is just one example of the extra mile we go to make sure our clients get the best possible exposure, which leads to more showings, more offers and the highest possible price. We are not aware of any other local sales group with so many followers or views.
If you are thinking of selling, give us a call. We would be happy to meet with you to discuss your situation and help map out a game plan to make your home selling experience seamless and extraordinary.
