Will One Bad Dust Storm Send Texans Scurrying for the Hills? Google Searches Indicate So
Last week’s windy weather left some property damage in its wake and thousands of North Texans without power. For some residents, that dust storm could be the last straw.
Apparently, Google searches by folks looking to sell their home in Dallas exploded on March 4, the day a large storm system blew 60-70 mph winds into the metroplex.
The fallout itself, while horrible for some, was somewhat par for the course in a state that has been experiencing an increase in extreme weather events. We all still remember Snowmageddon, right?
Last Tuesday’s storm produced one confirmed tornado and kicked up enough dust to prompt a ground stop at D-FW Airport and leave an eerie red haze hanging over the region.
An analysis conducted by Eden Emerald Mortgages found that searches for “sell my home as is Dallas” shot up by an astounding 4,750% — a somewhat stunning (or aberrational) development for an area that has seen considerable population growth over the past several years.
North Texans weren’t the only ones impacted by the dust storm, though. The entire Lone Star State ended up on the receiving end of damaging winds, with tens of thousands of residents losing power for some period of time.
Google search data from that day shows similar (albeit less pronounced) spikes in searches for “sell my house fast San Antonio TX” and “sell my house fast in Houston.” The former logged a 350% increase, and the latter became a breakout term, meaning it clocked a more than 5,000% increase in searches compared to the previous period.
Maybe It’s the Economy, Stupid
While the sharp bump in Texans using Google to research offloading their homes is especially noteworthy, the spike is piggybacking off a broader interest in relocation. Nationwide, searches for “sell my home” on Google jumped by 136% on March 4.
Last week’s storm system was in fact felt by broad swaths of the United States, particularly across the Upper Midwest and some southern states. Still, Eden Emerald Mortgages CEO Shaun Bettman thinks some extra-meteorological factors are at play.
“The unpredictability of the economy has likely led to a spike in online searches for residents considering selling their homes, with generally high interest each day from these findings,” Bettman said.
“However, the current weather in Dallas might be the tipping point for some in Texas, and it will be interesting to see how search interest develops,” he added.
Unpredictability seems to be the name of the game under the Trump administration 2.0, with on-again-off-again tariff threats roiling the stock market.
Relatedly, retirement accounts and owned primary residences are the two most valuable assets for American households, according to Pew Research Center. Make of that what you will.
