Buyers Priced Out of Big Cities Are Finding Cheaper New Homes in the South

More than two-thirds of the people clicking on brand-new houses this spring were shopping somewhere other than the city they live in. In the second quarter of 2026, Realtor.com reported that 67.2% of views on new-construction listings came from buyers in a different metro than the home for sale, above the 65.4% out-of-metro share for existing homes. The pull is strongest in the affordable South, and for a household weighing whether to buy a new construction home in another state, the sticker price is only the opening question.

Shoppers priced out of Miami are landing in Lakeland

The metros drawing the most outside interest cluster in Florida and the Carolinas. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida, topped the list: 83.1% of its new-construction views came from outside the metro, at a median new-build listing price of $315,821. A large share of that interest traces back to Miami, Orlando and Tampa, where a Lakeland new build runs a fraction of Miami's $1.94 million median. Cape Coral-Fort Myers drew 82.4% of its views from outside, including Miami, New York City and Chicago, at a $496,102 median. Farther north, Durham-Chapel Hill in North Carolina pulled 80.2% of its interest from other metros at a $486,395 median.