High housing costs are pushing homebuyers to look beyond their local markets, with 60.1% of online home views from the 100 largest U.S. metros targeting out-of-market listings in the second quarter of 2026, according to a Realtor.com economic research report.
Affordability Drives Market Shifts
The shift toward cross-market home shopping represents a structural change in the housing market. While 48.2% of out-of-market views occurred in the second quarter of 2019, that figure has risen to 60.1% as of the second quarter of 2026, according to data from Realtor.com.
Affordability acts as a primary driver for these movement patterns. Jiayi Xu, a senior economist at Realtor.com, explained that affordability retains shoppers when it is present, pulls them in from pricier markets, and pushes them out once it is gone.
This pressure is no longer limited to the country's most expensive metropolitan areas. The search for more affordable space is cascading down to mid-tier markets, including Salt Lake City, Utah; Denver, Colorado; and Durham, North Carolina. Shoppers in these areas are increasingly looking toward nearby markets like Ogden, Utah; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Raleigh, North Carolina, where lower prices may offer more space for the same budget.
Regional Demand Patterns
The Western region leads the nation in outbound home shopping traffic. In the second quarter of 2026, nearly two-thirds of online views from Western metros went to listings outside those local markets, reaching 65.6%.
The South followed with 59.8%, the Northeast with 58.3%, and the Midwest with 56.1%. While the West was the only region where more than half of online views went to out-of-market listings prior to the pandemic, every U.S. region has now crossed that 50% threshold.
San Jose's Affordability Gap
San Jose, California, recorded the highest share of out-of-market traffic among the top 100 metros, with over 94% of shoppers based in the metro looking for listings elsewhere during the second quarter of 2026.
San Jose is the most expensive major housing market in the U.S., with a median asking price exceeding $1.39 million in spring 2026. Although San Jose's unemployment rate remains below the national level, its median listing price sits 225.5% above the national average, creating an affordability gap that pushes shoppers elsewhere.
For San Jose's out-of-market homebuyers, San Francisco emerged as the top destination. While San Francisco's median prices are 133% above the national average, they remain 28% lower than San Jose's prices.
Jobs Influence Buyer Destinations
While high prices push buyers away, employment opportunities can pull them in. San Francisco's AI-driven job boom, anchored by companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, is a factor in drawing shoppers from the San Jose, Los Angeles, and Seattle markets.
Similarly, Birmingham, Alabama, shoppers find their top destination is Nashville, Tennessee, where a 3.2% unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2026 suggests a stronger job market can sometimes outweigh higher home prices.
Local Market Loyalty
In contrast to the trend of searching elsewhere, 14 of the 100 largest metros showed strong loyalty to their local markets, with more than half of their online traffic staying within the metro.
St. Louis, Missouri, led this group with 59.8% of shopping traffic remaining local. Other markets with high local retention include Cleveland, Ohio; Memphis, Tennessee; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Tampa, Florida; and Louisville, Kentucky. In these locations, median listing prices remain below the national average, suggesting that relative affordability may keep local shoppers from looking farther afield.
Economic Uncertainty and Hesitation
In some high-cost markets, economic uncertainty is causing buyers to hesitate. Victor Currie, a real estate agent at Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Los Angeles, told Realtor.com that many potential local buyers are holding off on transactions due to economic news and the fear of committing to a purchase or selling a home with a pandemic-era interest rate.
