Outsiders Love These Markets

Denver, San Francisco, and Seattle are hot and trendy, but more potential buyers have their eye on Palm Springs, Calif.

The resort city 100 miles east of Los Angeles was found to have the most external views per home listing on Zillow, an online real estate database. Using page-view data on for-sale and unlisted homes in June 2016, Zillow identified 10 markets with the most interest from outsiders—and 10 markets with the highest rates of people looking to move elsewhere.

Along with Palm Springs, several California metros including San Diego, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Fresno are on the list of markets with the most external views. Zillow said the data may be skewed by California residents who are looking at other markets nearby within the state. Other markets in the top 10 include popular cities such as Austin, Texas; Denver; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle. Jacksonville, Fla., came in seventh.

Zillow also found the markets that have the most home-page views for other areas. San Antonio tops that list, with 54 percent of home views on Zillow from within San Antonio’s boundaries being directed at homes in other cities. The rate is driven by the large military population—people who may consider moving back to their home towns after active duty. The other markets on the list were New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Nashville, Tenn.,

Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., and Miami. San Diego, San Francisco, and Austin, Texas, are on both lists.

Of course, the Zillow analysis encapsulates more than just serious buyers. View counts may be inflated by people who are just curious about housing in a far-off city, and even by users looking up past homes or the houses of friends and family.