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On the Move

The pandemic’s effects continue to ripple across the real-estate market, driving up prices and keeping homes in short supply. It turns out that 2020 also saw a dramatic shift in where home buyers want to be, with many eschewing higher-priced, densely populated cities in favor of smaller, more affordable locations across the country. Here are the metro areas home buyers abandoned last year as ranked by loan application counts, according to real-estate analytics firm CoreLogic, and the ones where buyers decided to settle instead. 


Related: Which State Has Grown the Most in the Past 10 Years?

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Fewer Buyers: Boston

Rank: 8

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $664,457

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Fewer Buyers: Miami

Rank: 6

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $471,191

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Fewer Buyers: Washington

Rank: 5

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $573,598

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Fewer Buyers: San Jose, California

Rank: 4

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $1,567,050

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Fewer Buyers: San Francisco

Rank: 3

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $1,266,711

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Fewer Buyers: Los Angeles

Rank: 2

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $989,157

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Fewer Buyers: New York City

Rank: 1

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $656,214

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More Buyers: Dallas

Rank: 10

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $343,968

Front view of City Hall in Deltona, Florida by Artystyk386 (CC BY-SA)

More Buyers: Deltona, Florida

Rank: 9

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $298,269

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More Buyers: San Antonio

Rank: 8

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $288,887

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More Buyers: Jacksonville, Florida

Rank: 7

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $319,559

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More Buyers: Port St. Lucie, Florida

Rank: 6

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $324,110

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More Buyers: Tampa, Florida

Rank: 5

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $348,849

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More Buyers: Las Vegas

Rank: 4

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $372,974

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More Buyers: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Rank: 3

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $280,949

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More Buyers: Lakeland, Florida

Rank: 2

Average metro-area home price in 2020: $260,174

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