Housing affordability is less of a concern in the 189 counties with higher pre-mover scores. ATTOM found that the average percentage of wages needed to buy a median priced home in these counties was 38%, compared to 42% in the 120 counties with a pre-mover index below the national average.

In counties with at least 50,000 single-family homes and condominiums, those with the highest pre-mover indices in Q2 were led by two counties in the DC metro area: Loudon County and Prince William County, both in Virginia. They were followed by Forsyth County in the Atlanta metro area; and two suburban Illinois “collar” counties in the Chicago metro area: Will County and Du Page County.

IRVINE, CA—To discover where homebuyers likely to move in the next few months are looking, take a cue from Horace Greeley, who famously advised, “Go west, young man.” More to the point, look to Colorado Springs, CO, the market that registered highest in ATTOM Data Solutions' Q2 2017 Pre-Mover Housing Index, issued Thursday.

Others in the top five include Chicago; Washington, DC; Reno, NV; and Lexington, KY. In common with Colorado Springs, all posted a pre-mover score of 200 or more, twice the national average.

“Markets with a healthy mix of access to good jobs and relatively affordable housing attracted the most interest from pre-movers in the second quarter, a harbinger of strong home sales activity in the third quarter,” says Daren Blomquist, SVP at ATTOM. “Meanwhile in some of the nation's hottest housing markets, there was more pre-mover interest in outlying counties further away from jobs but with more affordable homes to purchase. We see this pattern playing out in places like Denver, New York, Seattle and Southern California.”

Out of 309 US counties analyzed for ATTOM's latest report, 189 posted a pre-mover index above the national average (100) in Q2. The average June unemployment rate in those 189 counties was 4.2%, compared to an average unemployment rate of 4.5% in the 120 counties that posted a pre-mover index below the national average during the quarter.

Housing affordability is less of a concern in the 189 counties with higher pre-mover scores. ATTOM found that the average percentage of wages needed to buy a median priced home in these counties was 38%, compared to 42% in the 120 counties with a pre-mover index below the national average.

In counties with at least 50,000 single-family homes and condominiums, those with the highest pre-mover indices in Q2 were led by two counties in the DC metro area: Loudon County and Prince William County, both in Virginia. They were followed by Forsyth County in the Atlanta metro area; and two suburban Illinois “collar” counties in the Chicago metro area: Will County and Du Page County.