What's fueling Americans' big city exodus: Corcoran Group CEO
Pamela Liebman reveals hottest spots for people fleeing high-tax states
Pamela Liebman argues people have been moving to 'the low tax states' where 'they can have a great lifestyle.'
Corcoran Group CEO Pamela Liebman argued on Tuesday that the big city exodus is taking people to places where they "can have a great lifestyle."
"They are going to the low tax states and for those can work from home, they are going where they can have a great lifestyle," Liebman told "Mornings with Maria" on Tuesday.
She spoke with host Maria Bartiromo from the site of the Milken Institute’s 25th annual Global Conference in Los Angeles, noting that during the pandemic "everybody wanted more outdoor space."
Liebman also revealed the hottest spots people are moving to amid the mass exodus from the cities with the highest tax rates, noting that markets all over Florida, including Miami, Palm Beach and Naples have been popular as well as Austin, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee.
Corcoran Group CEO Pamela Liebman reveals the hottest spots people are moving to amid a mass exodus from the cities with the highest tax rates. (istock)
"Until people say you have to go back to the office and work again, we still see people doing this sort of migration," she told Bartiromo.
Liebman also noted "that money was so cheap for a while that for some people, they thought it was almost free."
"I go to a low tax state from California or New York, what I’m saving in taxes I can afford to put way more into my home purchase, and home purchase prices there have really gone through the roof," she continued.
Pamela Liebman, president and CEO of The Corcoran Group, argues people who can work remotely are moving to 'low tax states' where they 'can have a great lifestyle.'
The median existing-home sales price rose to $375,300 in March, up 15% from the same time last year, according to information provided by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) late last month.
The association noted that existing-home sales fell for the second straight month in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million. NAR also noted that sales were down 2.7% from the month before and 4.5% from the same time last year.
With slower demand, the inventory of unsold existing homes increased to 950,000 as of the end of March, which would support two months at the monthly sales pace, according to NAR.
Meantime, mortgage rates dropped for the first time in seven weeks, according to the latest data from Freddie Mac, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage falling to 5.1% as of April 28. Though the rates edged down slightly, they remain significantly higher compared to the same time last year.
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Macro Trends Advisors LLC founding partner Mitch Roschelle argues higher mortgage rates have 'cooled off the housing market a bit' and says he hopes a 'slowdown in year-over-year price gains' will happen, noting higher rates will 'offset that.'
Liebman predicted "that inventory stays tight" for the rest of 2022 and into next year.
REAL ESTATE EXPERT ON WHETHER HOME PRICES COULD COME DOWN AMID FED RATE HIKES
She also said that she doesn’t believe home prices will go down.
"Some people will rush to buy sooner because they want to beat the next Fed increase on the mortgage rates," Liebman told Bartiromo.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell last week solidified expectations for a half-percentage point rate hike at the central bank's May meeting as officials look to tame red-hot inflation.
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The housing market typically experiences higher mortgage rates when the Fed raises rates. Though mortgage rates do not follow the federal funds rate, they do typically follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury.