Americans are moving further away from their original homes in order to find properties that are more affordable, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
According to data published by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average distance that buyers traveled for a new property was 50 miles in 2022, which is triple the average distance moved within the last 30 years; which ranged from between 10 to 15 miles.
For the younger baby boomer generation specifically, Jessica Lautz, the NAR deputy chief economist, stated during a real estate summit that the generation is moving to be closer to their families and grandchildren.
“Grandbabies, they’re chasing that grandbaby multiple states away, just to be down the street,” Lautz explained.
“People moved to favorable weather, taxes, more space, affordability, [and a] good job market. We actually saw that people moved a much longer distance than we have seen historically.”
Movers are currently looking for homes throughout the nation that are more affordable, and will give them more space for what they’re paying.
Realtor.com released a separate report stating that 60.3% of homebuyers are searching for listings that are outside of the metropolitan areas that they’re currently living in. The percentage marks a .7% increase when compared to the previous quarter, and a 4.1% increase when compared to last year.
The NAR report also found that one quarter of buyers traveled over 470 miles to find their newest property, and where people were moving from had an impact on the areas they were looking to travel to next. Jiayi Xu, an economist at Realtor.com, spoke about the reasoning behind this data in a press release.
“Housing affordability isn’t likely to improve anytime soon. So, it’s not surprising to see that Americans are on the move and increasingly searching for homes in more affordable areas of the country where they can stretch their housing dollars further.”
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun told Yahoo News that the new culture of working from home is actually giving people the opportunity to branch out in terms of where they want to live.
“Remote work does not tie a worker to a given location. And hence, the increased trend of remote work flexibility will permit for a longer-decision move.
The younger baby boomer generation, those born between 1955 and 1964, are actually moving the longest average distance among other generations. In 2022 they moved up to 90 miles away with an average move of 60 miles; Gen X moved 30 miles, millennials 15 miles, and Gen Z moved 20 miles.
“There are a large number of baby boomers and they are retiring. They can move far and very far away,” according to Yun. Baby boomers have also been the biggest home buying group in the market within the last two years, making up 39% of all transactions between July 2021 and June 2022, according to the NAR.
Millennial buyers accounted for 28% of transactions, followed by Gen X at 24%, and Gen Z and the Silent Generation making up for 4%.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
