PHILADELPHIA, PA — Philadelphia drew a larger share of rental searches from outside the metropolitan area over the past year, with New York accounting for the biggest source of that outside traffic, according to Zillow data released Sept. 2 that tracks potential relocation demand across major U.S. markets.
About 39.1% of page views for Philadelphia rental listings came from outside the metro, up 0.6 percentage points from a year earlier. New York-area shoppers alone generated 7.3% of Philadelphia rental page views, the largest share from any outside market.
The reverse flow was considerably smaller. Philadelphia renters accounted for 1.6% of rental listing views in the New York market, where 76.3% of page views came from local shoppers.
The Philadelphia figures are part of a broader Zillow analysis of rental listing page views that found outside interest accelerating most sharply in Buffalo, Chicago and Houston. Zillow characterized rising out-of-market browsing as a potential early indicator of where relocation demand could emerge, rather than evidence that those searches ultimately resulted in moves.
Buffalo posted the largest year-over-year increase in its share of outside rental searches, rising 4.2 percentage points. Chicago followed with a 3.7-point increase, Houston gained 3.4 points, New Orleans rose 3.2 points and Dallas increased 3 points.
“Renting is often how people try out a new community before committing,” Zillow Chief Economist Mischa Fisher said. “When we see a market with a growing share of rental searches coming from outside the metro, that tips us off to a developing pipeline.”
Outside interest was already dominant in several markets even when its share wasn’t rising rapidly. Raleigh led the country, with 59% of rental page views originating outside the metro, followed by Hartford at 55.1%, New Orleans at 53.7%, Salt Lake City at 51.9% and Nashville at 51.7%. Providence followed at 51.5%.
The data also show how geography shapes renter searches. Washington-area shoppers generated 23.9% of rental page views in Baltimore, while Los Angeles renters accounted for 21.3% of Riverside views. San Francisco shoppers generated 17.6% of views in San Jose, and Boston renters accounted for 16.1% in Providence.
Among longer-distance searches — defined by Zillow as moves between markets in different states and at least 100 miles apart — New York-to-Hartford was the largest identified flow, accounting for 6% of Hartford rental page views. Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas accounted for 5.5% of Las Vegas views, while Houston-to-Oklahoma City represented 5.2% and Boston-to-Buffalo 5%.
New York renters also showed an unusual tendency to search farther south. They generated 4.8% of rental page views in Miami, 2.8% in Raleigh, 2.7% in Orlando and 2.4% in Tampa, according to Zillow.
Not every market is becoming more dependent on prospective newcomers. Cincinnati recorded an 8.1-percentage-point increase in the share of searches originating locally, followed by Jacksonville at 4.6 points and Columbus at 3.2 points.
Zillow Group Inc., which operates Zillow and Zillow Rentals, trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbols Z and ZG.
Support the local news that supports Chester County. MyChesCo delivers reliable, fact-based reporting and essential community resources—free for everyone. If you value that, click here to become a patron today.