Fewer Americans Moving Homes: Report

New information from the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that fewer Americans are moving to different houses than has been recorded in the past. 

As reported by The Hill: 

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows just 8.4 percent of Americans live in a different house than they lived in a year ago. That is the lowest rate of movement that the bureau has recorded at any time since 1948. That share means that about 27.1 million people moved homes in the last year, also the lowest ever recorded.

As the Census Bureau reported on November 17th, “In 2021, 27.1 million Americans reported living at a different residence than a year earlier, compared to 29.8 million people in 2020. This represents an 8.4% mover rate, the lowest documented rate in over 70 years.”

While there could be lots of reasons for the shift, some experts point to an aging population.

“Aging boomers are clinging to their homes, as is typical of older Americans,” Cheryl Russell, who writes the Demo Memo blog on demographic trends, told The Hill. “Boomers are in the lifestage where people typically stay put. With older Americans increasingly dominating homeownership, the top-heavy age structure has reduced inventory and dampened mobility.”

The moving trends could also be impacting the real estate market, or be a direct result of the recent increase in home prices.  While the total number of housing units grew by 6.6% over the last decade, the number of vacant units dropped by 8.6%, The Hill notes.

As reported by The Daily Wire, Century 21 CEO Michael Miedler said the American real estate market will continue to be heated due to the prospect of mortgage rate increases as well as pent-up demand.

In an interview with Fox Business‘s Maria Bartiromo, Miedler said the market is hot because “a lot of buyers are trying to rush in and beat any more increases in the mortgage rate.” He continued “to see the market moving in a very kind of fast direction as folks have a lot of pent-up demand in trying to buy homes here in this country.”

At the same time, there is a short supply of new homes: “From the downturn that happened in 2008 to where we are at now, we are at historic lows on where folks are building.” 

“Here is the truth of the matter; between 2012 and 2021 there were close to 12 million new household formations and we only put 7 million homes built in this country, so we have to double the pace in the next five years to catch up with the demand that’s out there,” Miedler explained.

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