Report: Census Bureau data suggests a return to normalcy for residential real estate

When interest rates suddenly plunged to historic lows during the pandemic, it sparked a nationwide residential real estate migration. Facing stay-at-home orders and the new possibility remote work, many homeowners traded the conveniences of dense city centers for more spacious rural and suburban neighborhoods. Years later, Americans are on the move once again—but for slightly different reasons, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) analysis.

“A change in marital status was a more common reason for moving in 2022 than in 2021 and seeking a better housing unit or neighborhood became less common reasons,” reads an explainer about the findings, citing recently released U.S. Census Bureau data. But while “reasons for moving and types of moves changed, overall geographic mobility remained stable.”

The analysis estimates mobility and migration trends. The estimates used 2020 Census population data, while the 2018 and 2021 estimates used 2010 Census data.

Overall, the most popular reason for moving cited by more than 41 percent of homebuyers was housing related (declining from 45 percent the year prior). Family reasons, (26 percent), employment (16 percent) and other reasons (15 percent) followed behind, with each notably increasing by a few percentage points. Family reasons went up by two whole percentage points—led by a change in marital status, a statistically significant change from 4.8 to 6 percent, and a desire to establish a household.

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