Californians Fleeing State's High Cost of Housing

California’s warm weather, sunny beaches and world-class schools have lured people to the Golden State for decades, but rising home prices are turning that equation around.

Data analysis firm CoreLogic says that for every two homebuyers who moved to California from 2000 through 2015, five others sold their homes, packed up and moved out.

Arizona and Texas were the top destinations for people moving out of California, CoreLogic reported. Only New Jersey had a higher ratio of fleeing homeowners during that period.

“California had the largest number of out-migrants in 2015,” CoreLogic Senior Economist Kristine Yao said in a blog post published Thursday.

The trend of out-migration was also noted in a separate trio of reports released earlier this year by Beacon Economics. Beacon noted that 625,000 more U.S. residents left California between 2007 and 2014 than moved into the state. The vast majority ended up in Texas, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and Washington.

The search for more affordable housing is sending low- and middle-income workers out of the state, while higher-wage workers continue to move in, which argues against the theory that high taxes are driving people away.

“California has an employment boom with a housing problem,” said Beacon founding partner Christopher Thornberg. “The state continues to offer great employment opportunities for all kinds of workers, but housing affordability and supply represent a significant problem.”

Home prices and rents have been rising steadily for more than four years.

CoreLogic figures show Orange County’s median home price was up 42 percent in the four years ending in September. Prices were up 55 percent in Los Angeles County, 57 percent in Riverside County and 75 percent in San Bernardino County.

Although home sellers leaving California last year paid, on average, 36 percent less for their new homes out of state, they tended to end up in better neighborhoods, CoreLogic reported. Their purchase prices ranked in the 77th percentile for their new metro areas, while their sale prices ranked in the 62 percentile back home.

“Of the homeowners moving out of state, more of them sold in high appreciation, high cost areas and bought in lower appreciation, more affordable areas,” Yao wrote.

California home prices have risen in part because of a lack of inventory.

From 2005 to 2015, permits were filed for only 21.5 housing units per every 100 new residents in the state. That put the Golden State second to last behind Alaska, where only 16.2 housing permits were filed for every 100 new residents.

On the flip side, Michigan saw 166 permits filed for every 100 new residents.