http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=32&articleid=20120210_32_E1_MetroT857889By ROBERT EVATT World Staff Writer
Published: 2/10/2012 2:27 AM
Last Modified: 2/10/2012 4:59 AM
Metro Tulsa could be seeing a lot more people moving in from out of town, according to a new report.
Trulia, a national real estate listing website (tulsaworld.com/trulia ), has put Tulsa at No. 5 on the list of the top areas for out-of-state house hunters.
The website ranked each metro area by dividing the number of incoming property searches by out-of-towners in each area by the number of outgoing property searches by locals looking to leave. The study included searches made from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31.
Tulsa achieved a ratio of 2.48, meaning that for every local person looking at a house elsewhere there were nearly 2 1/2 people eyeing property here.
The top area for out-of-towners, Palm Bay/Melbourne/Titusville in Florida, had a ratio of 8.8.
The ratio dropped steeply among the top four areas.
Jed Kolko, Trulia's chief economist, said in a statement that the high number of southern areas represented in the top 10 reflected the fact that modern house hunters are looking for deals, and those areas have lower prices.
"Although locals in Florida, inland California and the Southwest are suffering from high foreclosure rates and lost equity, huge price declines since the height of the housing bubble have drawn house hunters from across the country," Kolko said.
The website noted that roughly one out of every three home searches noted on its website was across state lines.
Original Print Headline: Tulsa nets high rank for house hunters