![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/us-moving.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: cottonbro<\/a> \/ Pexels<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nGoodbye Southern California and New York. Hello, Texas and Florida.<\/p>\n
A perfect storm of events encouraged 2020 homebuyers to take pulse-pounding chances in new and unexpected locations. What caused many to roll the dice on a new town or city was tipped off by the COVID-19 pandemic, but there were other factors at play.<\/p>\n
As a result, 15 lower-cost American secondary cities \u2013 cities near major metropolitan areas – are now considered to be the hottest places for homebuyers according to the CoreLogic 2020\u2019s Hottest Cities for Homebuyers Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n When COVID-19 struck, a mass exodus out of office buildings and into homes changed the lives of countless employees. Remote work gave many the ability to reconsider where their home is located. When a worker could conduct business from nearly anywhere in the world, the relationship between heading from home into a local office became far less relevant.<\/p>\n COVID-19 brought with it unforeseen challenges. Families were forced to re-evaluate their spending and savings. There was a strong desire to get away from the crowding brought on by living within the cramped quarters of the city.<\/p>\n As lockdowns forced people indoors, homebuyers were treated to a wealth of improved technology to aid in their search. Virtual house hours with 3-D imagery gave customers the confidence to purchase a house they had never seen in person.<\/p>\n \u201cMore than half of the homes we sold were to buyers who\u2019d never physically set foot on the property,\u201d said Deneka Waddell of Holmes Realty Group. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a steady increase in adoption of digital tools over the years, but 2020 really poured fuel on the fire. If you aren\u2019t marketing listings using the latest technology, there\u2019s no way you can compete.\u201d<\/p>\n A lack of new home construction and rock bottom interest rates also led prospective homebuyers to cast a wider net beyond where they may have normally purchased. Unaffordable housing combined with high state taxes has taken the shine off of living in many of the country\u2019s biggest cities.<\/p>\n<\/a>Photo:\u00a0Joseph Frank<\/a>\u00a0\/ Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n