Homebuyers considering state politics before buying: Redfin
A new survey by Redfin reveals that according to real estate agents, one-third of American homebuyers are taking states' politics into consideration when choosing where to live.
Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather joins Yahoo Finance Live to break down the survey data and how this trend could impact the housing sector in some states.
Fairweather notes that homebuyers are "becoming more polarized," and real estate agents should start factoring that in when speaking to clients. Fairweather explains that many homebuyers who moved to other states due to factors such as cost of living, experience "trade-offs" upon discovery of their new community's political climate.
With changes in work culture post-pandemic, Fairweather sees job location as "less important" and is not as much of a driving factor for where people move.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Editor's note: This article was written by Eyek Ntekim
Video Transcript
- New survey out by Redfin saying homebuyers are increasingly factoring in politics when deciding where to move. But with mortgage rates ticking up slowly today, the dream of buying a home continues to be, of course, a struggle for many Americans. For more on this survey and the housing market in 2024, we're talking to Redfin Chief Economist, Daryl Fairweather.
Daryl, thank you so much as always for joining the show. I got to say, some of this didn't really surprised me that the survey and study you guys all did. Because in my own life, I have a buddy who moved to Texas, and Florida, and I wouldn't say Daryl politics was the reason, but it was certainly a factor. But apparently, they're not alone. This is kind of a trend you're seeing?
DARYL FAIRWEATHER: Yes, we surveyed real estate agents, and a third of agents said that they were working with a client last year who was relocating due to politics. And this was up from the last time we did a survey. So, it just goes to show that people are becoming more polarized and it's becoming something that real estate agents need to be ready to talk about is, what is the political climate of the cities or metros that people are moving into?
- I have to say I was trying to figure out exactly how significant it was, because it's one third of real estate agents surveyed said, at least, one client, and presumably they have a lot of clients said that they were moving for political reasons. And I don't know if you can separate out political reasons from tax reasons, which a lot of people factor into their home buying and location decisions. In other words, it seems kind of murky here.