We can probably say that affluent people are coming, and those who are priced out, or cashing out, are leaving. There were 31,354 houses and condos sold in San Diego County in the last 12 months, so those migrating are only part of our real estate market.
Millennials are leaving San Diego in the thousands, according to a new report by Brookings.
The new Census Bureau migration data reveal a post-recession shift in the migration of young adults and seniors.
From 2007 to 2012, San Diego lost more than 7,000 people between the ages of 25 to 34 annually. From 2012 to 2017, the number nearly doubled to more than 13,000.
The report points out that millennials have the tendency to move to “educated places” such as Denver and Seattle. Millennials also prefer more affordable areas such as Kansas City and Minneapolis.
While San Diego is losing young people, several Texas cities appear to be gaining a good chunk of millennials. Cities like Houston, Dallas, Austin, Denver and Seattle gained tens of thousands of people between the ages of 25 to 34 between 2012 and 2017.
As for those 55 and older, more than 18,000 migrated to Phoenix per year from 2012 to 2017. Cities like Tampa, Riverside and Jacksonville also saw their fair share of people ages 55 and older.
Is this new? I think this has been the way in CA for 30-40 years. When its time to start a family, they leave – either to go home or find affordability. When we were that age, we lost many of our then- friends to this. 3 couples to CO, 1 to PNW, 3 to midwest, 1 TX, 3 Boston.
What if everyone who couldn’t afford living here and was originally from elsewhere – left? Could you live in AZ or Texas? I couldn’t. I’m North county coastal…my dream would be a compound on the central coast or even northern California, as a get away place…but North San Diego county will always be home.
We lived in Phoenix, AZ for 17 years and taking vacations in San Diego to visit family or just to get away from Phoenix during the summer. Of which, summers have been getting longer and hotter, as well as multiple dust storms every single year.
So, we planned and finally made the move to San Diego in 2013. Even though we sold our home in Phoenix over list price, it wasn’t enough to buy anything worthy in San Diego and close to work. So, we just rented, paid off debt and saved up money and finally purchased in 2017.
Is the cost of living higher in San Diego? You betcha! Do we love the cooler weather (compared to Phoenix summer) and being close to the beach and other amenities available to us in just a 30 minute drive from where we live? Hell yes!
We wouldn’t trade this for the world! San Diego natives have no clue how good they have it here, especially if they’ve never lived anywhere else. This is paradise on Earth. And paradise doesn’t come cheap!
Get good help!
For most it takes a big sacrifice (or trade offs, if you prefer) to stay and eek it out when compared to other places, so they leave. My point is that this is not a new thing. With same job responsbilities and demands, by your late 20’s early 30’s you can have a nice house and yard and family lifestyle with 1 person working and the other at home with low stress – in Kansas City, that is. You make less, it costs less. Our silver lining is that 30 years later the house that you bought with 20% down is worth 10x and you can sell it and retire off that money – but not here. the trade-offs continue.
If you think housing will appreciate over the next 10 years as it did for the previous 10 I have some ocean-front property in Arizona for sale.