Americans are choosing to stay put at longer rates than ever in history. In the past, the trend was that Americans moved far and frequent to find and obtain new opportunities. Now, employers aren't moving people across the country and they also are allowing job seekers to stay in their home.
These trends, along with regional job growth, will have a large potential impact on the rate of housing growth.
But the economy is definitely a factor in slowing down migration, just as it was in the recent election, where economic growth was significantly lower in the swing states that voted for Trump than the nationwide average, according to the Atlantic Council.
“There is less dynamism in the economy,” said Chief Economist Lawrence Yun of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). A current NAR survey asked recent home sellers how long they’ve lived in their current home. In 2016 it was 10 years. In previous surveys it had been only seven years, he said.
That suggests the housing market slump is still with us, Yun said. People who bought in the early part of the century and overpaid now can’t get out. Four to 5 million homes are “underwater” -- that is, people owe more on their properties than they are worth. “This underwater situation is unique in U.S. history,’ he said.