“I have really sharp millennial clients who were first-time home buyers in the late Spring and definitely interest rates were on their minds the whole time,’’ O’Connor said. They were in a hurry to buy before another rate hike.

But interest rates are only part of the story. Areas with high taxes, like Chicago, New York and New Jersey, have been affected by last year’s tax bill, which capped the amount of state taxes and mortgage interest that could be written off on federal returns.

Boise and Reno Capitalize on the California Real Estate Exodus

Buyers from high-tax states are coming to Florida, which has no state income tax, Hogan said. She cited two recent clients – one from the New York area and one from Greenwich, Connecticut -- who are house shopping in South Florida to establish residence there, even as they continue working in New York.

The biggest home-price gains in the country have been in cities where demand is tied to the stock performance of the biggest employers.

“In metros like San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, where wages are more closely tied to how tech stocks are doing, we’ve seen that’s where prices have gone up the most,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin.

Amazon Returns
Shares of Seattle-based Amazon.com returned more than 900 percent from the first quarter of 2012 until September 4, 2018, and housing prices in the city have almost doubled, according to Case-Shiller. The company’s shares have dropped about 20 percent since the beginning of September and that’s already being reflected in the housing market.

“There’s been a lot of money in Seattle going into housing but over the last couple month the Amazon stock price has gone down, so if that continues, that would have a negative impact on the Seattle housing market,” said Fairweather. “This could be a temporary dip or it could be longer term. It’s kind of like their piggy bank.”

There’s a chance that Seattle prices could start to decline next year, especially as higher mortgage rates curb demand, Fairweather said.

Seattle properties are staying on the market longer, and selling for the asking price, even as inventory remains low, said Sol Villarreal, an agent with Windermere Real Estate Co., who largely works with first-time home buyers in the city.