Many are trapped in their homes, unwilling to trade in a low mortgage rate.
 

Point2Homes notes Mobility in the US Hits a Record Low.

For much of its history, the U.S. was unmatched in its level of geographic mobility with both interstate and same-state moves showing people’s desire to do better. In the 19th century, nearly one third of Americans moved each year, often to seek better opportunities in the form of better jobs, better education, better housing.

But, throughout the last 50 years, mobility started losing momentum. Today, Americans move far less than they once did: According to the latest U.S. Census residential mobility data analyzed by Point2Homes, 11% of people (or 37,045,761 residents) changed their address in the past year. That’s a dip from 14.3% ten years prior and a big slip from the 20% who were changing residences each year in the 1960s.

Why Are Fewer Americans Moving Today?

American mobility rates have declined to historic lows due to a combination of factors, including economic and job-related uncertainty; rising housing costs; and the increase in remote work flexibility, which reduced job-related relocations. To that end, the national mobility rate dropped to 11% in 2024, the lowest level recorded since the Census Bureau began tracking this data in 1948.

Stuck in Place

The Atlantic comments How Progressives Froze the American Dream by By Yoni Appelbaum

The idea that people should be able to choose their own communities—instead of being stuck where they are born—is a distinctly American innovation. It is the foundation for the country’s prosperity and democracy, and it just may be America’s most profound contribution to the world.

No society has ever been as mobile as the United States once was. No society has even come close. In the 19th century, the heyday of American mobility, roughly a third of all Americans changed addresses each year. European visitors were astonished, and more than slightly appalled.

The American “is devoured with a passion for locomotion,” the French writer Michel Chevalier observed in 1835; “he cannot stay in one place.”

The sharp decline in geographical mobility is the single most important social change of the past half century. In that same span, fewer Americans have started new businesses, and fewer Americans have switched jobs — from 1985 to 2014, the share of people who became entrepreneurs fell by half. More Americans are ending up worse off than their parents — in 1970, about eight out of every 10 young adults could expect to earn more than their parents.

Rent in the CPI

The fact that only 11 percent move in a year (and some of them are homeowners), is why rent prices in the CPI have not dropped as anticipated.

For existing renters, the price of rent is not declining even if it is falling for new leases in overbuilt areas.

The rest of the story can be summed up in a single word.

I N F L A T I O N

Mobility is decreasing because of inflation, bailouts, poor Congressional policies, and poor Fed policy.

Trump exacerbated all of those with inane tariffs sure to drive up prices (assuming there is not an economic collapse first), so take your pick.

I discussed all of the above in Home and Auto Insurance Costs Are Soaring. Are Rate Caps the Answer?

Of course, caps are not the answer but politicians want them.

What’s solution? Please click on the above link for discussion.

Also see It’s Now Twice as Expensive to Buy an Entry-Level Home than Rent

More By This Author: