As Californians flee the Golden State for (literally) greener pastures, they're bringing budgets that are nearly 50% higher than locals, according to a new Redfin report. That's driving up house prices exponentially in cities like Nashville, Atlanta, and Austin, all metro areas with populations that were surging even before the COVID-19 pandemic (and resulting work-from-home policies) began impacting migration. 

Locals in Music City typically bring an average budget of $485,500 to their homebuying search, whereas the average budget for out-of-towners moving to the city in 2020 was $719,500 – an increase of nearly 48%. Similarly, locals in Atlanta are being outbid by transplants with an average budget that's 33% higher than theirs, and in Austin – a city that's experienced explosive growth in the last few years – the difference is 32%.

The trend is primarily driven by the influx of new corporate HQs and clusters away from urban areas (particularly San Francisco) to secondary markets, which picked up considerable pace in 2020 as COVID-19 forced companies to adopt more flexible work-from-home policies.