More home sellers packed up and left California than there were home buyers moving to The Golden State between 2000 and 2015, and markets where housing is more affordable, such as Texas, Arizona, and North Carolina, had more buyers arriving from out of state than sellers leaving, according to an analysis by CoreLogic.
The study looked at public records data that tracked and matched households relocating by selling homes in one state and buying in another. California, in particular, had 2.5 home sellers leaving for every out-of-state buyer that moved in. Homeowners who relocated were leaving markets with considerable price appreciation. The median price for California homeowners was $495,000, which was 36 percent more than the price they paid in the markets they moved to.