Some New Yorkers are packing their bags amid threatened Covid-19 lockdowns and heading south. The Southeast has seen a major increase in luxury home sales, and the majority of these sales are to transplanted New Yorkers.
Co-founder of Maison Real Estate in Charlestown, SC, Mary Lou Wertz has noted her New York buyers are in their 30s and 40s with few family ties to the South. They are looking for a change in lifestyle while working remotely. Low property taxes, great weather, and Southern hospitality are luring cold weather hardened New Yorkers like never before.
New arrivals are realizing how far their money goes in southern cities allowing many to purchase luxury properties.
Kiawah Island Club & Real Estate in Kiawah Island, SC, had 69 closings, totaling $93.6 million just this past September. In September of 2019 there were 15 closings for $16 million, an increase of 360 percent. More than half the buyers are from the New York area, according to Kiawah Island founder, Patrick Melton.
These moves out of New York are largely permanent, not vacation homes. Only time will tell what the future holds for emigration from New York.