I would assume that there are two primary factors at work: cost of living, and economic opportunity. California may be an economic powerhouse, but if you can buy a suburban house in SC for a fraction of its CA equivalent, then that would be a factor. If you're living in Maine, even if houses are cheap, you might want to go somewhere where more things are happening. It's not necessarily a matter of people wanting to live in more conservative areas; if conservative policies demolished the local economy and ruined home values, that would mean more cheap real estate that people can afford, regardless of how they feel about the politics of the area.