Most of us are familiar with the process of moving. You pack up your belongings, load them into a truck, and then unload and take forever to unpack in your digs.
A new analysis from the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute finds fewer of us in Charlotte and the surrounding region have been going through that process in recent years, and that gives some valuable insights into the area’s housing market.
Katie Zager authored the analysis for UNC Charlotte's Urban Institute. She joined WFAE's Nick de la Canal to discuss her findings.
Read more about the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute's research on residential mobility — or the lack thereof — around the Charlotte region.
Zager on how many of us are moving: "So looking at the numbers for 2022, 84% of people in Mecklenburg were in the same house as they were last year compared to 91% in Cabarrus, about 90% in Gaston. And the national average for all of this is about 87% ... And again, these percentages have been rising the last few years across all eight counties surrounding Mecklenburg and Mecklenburg as well."
Zager on why people are moving: "I did dig into, kind of, what people's reason for moving question. The most cited reason is 'I wanted a newer, better, bigger, larger house.' So kind of these upgrade moves and kind of what this survey found was that there were fewer people making those sort of upgrade moves in 2021 and 2022."
Zager on the ripple effects of people not moving: "There is kind of this downstream effect of when people make these upgrade moves. That's when kind of the lower end of the market these starter homes open up. And so if people aren't making those sorts of moves, then that stagnation does make it much harder to, to get in on the lower end of the market."
