Leaving Southwest Florida? Where are they going?
Recently, an article was published in your paper concerning people leaving Florida. I thought it might be interesting for readers to know more detailed information about the locations where people are moving.
We work with more buyers and sellers than any other firm in Southwest Florida, so the numbers are a reasonable representation of the market. It is important to note that the large majority of sellers do not leave the area. Many simply downsize or upsize, or perhaps change to another type of venue. Condo owners decide to try a single-family home, or someone living near the beach wishes to live in a gated country club community.
Due to our age demographics, we also have a large number of people who elect to move to assisted living facilities, and we certainly have an excellent selection from which to choose.
But let’s take a look at people who moved away from Southwest Florida. Based on our statistics, the largest group of these did not move to another state but simply choose another location in Florida.: 53% of those who moved elected to stay in the state with sunny weather and no income tax.
Naples is near the top of the price ranges in our state, but nonetheless, some moved to other relatively pricey locations, such as St. Petersburg, Sarasota, or Boynton Beach/Delray Beach. Others selected less expensive locales, such as New Port Richey, Port St. Lucie, Venice, Port Charlotte and Parish. St. Pete wins as the most popular with 8% of the movers calling it their new home.
As for those who moved out of state, North Carolina wins the race with 8%, with half of those moving to the western NC mountains, and the others going to the eastern part of the state. South Carolina and Tennessee each had 4% of the moving group, and Georgia had 4%. So that group of states helps explain where the term “half backs” originated, as northern transplants to Southwest Florida elect to move part way back toward their roots.
The only other state to claim more than a small fraction was Colorado, with 4%. Maybe they’re just tired of the heat. The other states that claimed a low percentage of the movers included Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, New Hampshire, Nevada, Oklahoma, Michigan, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia. Note that there are only a few states west of the Mississippi River that picked up any of our residents.
So yes, there are some people moving away from Southwest Florida. Some want to pocket a nice profit from the sale of their home, others have family or various reasons for moving to a different area. But most choose to stay nearby, since we do indeed live in paradise.
Deborah Spahr is director of Relocation at John R. Wood Properties/Christie’s International Real Estate. She has been in the local real estate business for over 20 years. John R. Wood Christie’s International Real Estate has 800 agents and 23 offices in Collier and Lee County.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Leaving Southwest Florida? Where are they going?
