DELTONA, Fla. – According to CoreLogic’s 2020′s Hottest Cities for Homebuyers report, the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach real estate market was No. 9 in the nation for people moving to during the pandemic.
Seven Florida cities were listed on the top 15 list with the Lakeland-Winter Haven area taking the No. 2 spot.
According to CoreLogic, 2020′s homebuyers left states with high taxes and expensive housing, such as New York and California and relocated to metro areas in Texas, Florida, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
The Carlson family from Colorado made the move to Deltona this week.
“We sold almost everything we own, and we fit everything in an 8x10 U-Haul,” Casey Carlson said.
The family visited Central Florida often and decided to make the move in May, according to Alyssia Carlson.
“Our last visit was in May, we went to Cocoa Beach and we just decided we wanted to move here.”
The family decided on Deltona, even though Casey Carlson got a job in Orlando.
“We didn’t want to live in a big city like that,” he said. “I looked on a map and we looked between the beach and Orlando and Deltona was pretty much in the middle.”
The family ended up buying a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house with a pool for $275,000. The transaction happened over FaceTime.
“We didn’t even see the house in person,” Alyssia added.
They bought the house via FaceTime on the phone through their realtor, Nicola Hughes, of Hughes Home Realty.
“We got a lot of people that move from the Northeast who want to get out of the big cities after the pandemic, we have a lot of people from the west coming out,” Hughes said.
In fact, according to CoreLogic’s study, sunny weather, taxes, affordability and an outdoorsy lifestyle were among the reasons why many homebuyers moved to Florida.
“When you look at Deltona, it’s a lot more affordable,” said Frank Nothaft, CoreLogic’s chief economist. “A lot of these homebuyers are looking for more room, more space, lower population density and something more affordable, a lower cost of living.”
In fact, while the Deltona market is in the top 15 for where people are moving to, the Orlando market is in the top 15 for where people moving away from. According to the Orlando Regional Realtor’s Association, the median cost of a home in July of 2021 was $320,000.
“You get a lot more house for your money versus Orange and Seminole,” Hughes added.
“We wanted to stay under $300,000 and we found a 3-bed, 2-bath with a covered pool for $275,000,” Alyssia Carlson said. “It was meant to be,”