Move over, snowbirds. There’s a whole new flock coming to Florida, and they’re aiming right for the center of the map.
According to Trulia’s Metro Movers Report, Florida dominated the network’s metropolitan home searches in the period between October 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. The report is a quarterly comparison done between the number of inbound property searches of an area by outside residents vs. the number of outbound property searches of that area’s locals.
Central Florida seemed to be a clear destination in the minds of a lot of Trulia users, since five of the top ten locales were of that region. Of the top four, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville were ranked number one, Lakeland-Winter Haven number two, North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota number three, and Cape Coral-Fort Myers the number four position. The Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area was also ranked in the top ten.
South Florida received a lot of heavy searches, with West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach as well as Ft. Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach placing within the top ten.
While these results are based on Trulia home searches, there is evidence suggesting people are making the move to The Sunshine State. Penske Truck Rental data showcased that, for a second year in a row in 2011, Orlando was in the top five for one-way truck rental destinations.