More people moving to Florida during the pandemic

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida is second only to Texas when it comes to the top destinations to relocate.

Pew Chartible Trusts reports 241,000 people moved to the sunshine state in the last decade alone, and those numbers are only increasing since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent buyer Susan Jones who moved from California to get more house for a better bargain.

“The open concept, the high ceilings, the sunroom, obviously the view is spectacular with the Marsh here. It’s a forever view.”

Susan Jones loves her spacious new home. She and her husband packed up their lives from California and moved more than 2,400 miles to Jacksonville and relocted in a hurry, taking less than a month to make the cross-country move, but it wasn’t easy.

“We were seeing properties go on the market, but they would be gone within a day or two,” Jones said.

According to the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors the current housing economy is a sellers market.

“Because this is such a robust market right now in Jacksonville properties are selling very quickly. And if you’re looking to build it’s almost a year before you can actually get a property because there is lumber shortage. The builders have already built all the homes they planned to build,” Jones said.

New listings in the Northeast Florida region increased nearly 12.2% a month ago, while inventory levels fell 46.9%.

It’s the reason Susan put a bid on a house sight-unseen.

“Because this is such a robust market right now in Jacksonville properties are selling very quickly, and if you’re looking to build it’s almost a year before you can actually get a property because there is lumber shortage. The builders have already built all the homes they planned to build,” Jones said.

Her advice to others looking to move is move quickly.

“The interest rates are low so from a financial point of view it’s really important to be able to buy the house you want do it with a low interest rate. I would also say you have to move quickly. The other thing would be to contact the listing agent on the home if you don’t have a local real estate agent. Also get yourself a really good local real estate agent, don’t try to do it from a cross country agent because they don’t have their finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the community.”

Whether you’re looking to buy home 20 or 2,000 miles away, the name of the game is to act fast before you lose out on a bidding war.