Americans staying put: Percentage that moved in 2023 hit a record low

foxbusiness.com:

National Association of Home Builders CEO Jim Tobin provides professional analysis of the U.S. housing market following a tumble in demand as rates tick higher. 

The share of Americans that move every year has gradually been on the decline since the U.S. Census Bureau began tracking the data in the 1940s. However, after a surprise increase in the percentage who moved in 2022, a new analysis shows migration in the U.S. plummeted to an all-time low last year.

Online moving services marketplace HireAHelper's annual U.S. migration study found 7.8% of the population moved in 2023, which was a 9% drop from the year before and the lowest percentage of relocators ever recorded.

A mover carries a television into an apartment building in the North Beach district in San Francisco on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023. Last year saw the lowest share of Americans move on record. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The report pointed to an array of factors that contributed to the decline but said the obvious theme is that «people were priced out of relocation at every turn,» noting that housing affordability reached a historic low last year.

«One of the biggest reasons that 2023 saw a drop in moving is likely due to rising mortgage rates,» HireAHelper consumer advocate and spokesperson Miranda Marquit told FOX Business, pointing out that average rates were around 3.22% at the start of 2022 and spiked above 7% by the end of the year.

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«Even though rates came down a bit in 2023, they were much higher than the historic lows we saw for several years,» she said. «Median home prices have remained stubbornly high, even with some cooling in the real estate market, so having those