Jen Hubbell became a real estate agent in Greenville, S.C., because she believed a good life started with a good home, and now her phone buzzed regularly with calls from out-of-state clients who believed they could find both things in her city.
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Many were staunch conservatives from deeply blue states like New York, Washington and California, fed up with the politics there. Could Ms. Hubbell, a conservative herself, help them find neighborhoods of like-minded people?
Her response was always emphatic: “You are going to love it here.”
Ms. Hubbell is the lead agent in South Carolina for Conservative Move, a Texas-based company that helps conservatives migrate to solidly red places. (“When your community no longer reflects morals and values, it might be time to move,” its website says.) And with South Carolina surpassing Florida last year as the fastest-growing state in the country, she is keeping very busy.
The in-migration has fueled a yearslong real estate boom across South Carolina, where Republicans have controlled the governor’s mansion and legislature for more than two decades. Real estate agents like Ms. Hubbell say many of their clients are religious conservatives whose reasons for moving include opposition to policies like abortion access, support for transgender rights and vaccine mandates during the pandemic.
Paul Chabot, the founder and president of Conservative Move, which works with about 500 agents across the country, said that when he started his company in 2017, there were not a lot of people asking to go to South Carolina.