Monday, December 10, 2012

Homeowner Mobility Lowest Ever

The overall mobility rate climbed slightly in 2011-12, but the mobility rate of the nation's homeowners sunk deeper into record-low territory. Between March 2011 and March 2012, only 4.739 percent of the nation's homeowners moved, slightly less than the 4.741 percent of 2010-11. While this decline is not statistically significant, it indicates continued trouble in the housing market. The mobility rate of homeowners peaked at 9.5 percent in the late 1980s.

The number of homeowners who moved in 2011-12 fell to a new record low of 9,701,000, slightly less than the 9,724,000 homeowners who moved in 2010-11. The number of homeowners who moved peaked at more than 17 million in 1999-2000.

In contrast to the moribund mobility rate of homeowners, the mobility of renters climbed to 26.7 percent in 2011-12, up from 26.2 percent in 2010-11. The number of renters who moved climbed by 1.4 million to 26,787,000. This is the largest number of renters who moved since 1998-99 and signals an improving economy but not necessarily an improving housing market.

Source: Census Bureau, Geographic Mobility: 2011 to 2012

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