Americans Are Relocating at a Record Pace, But Many Aren’t Going Far

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work opportunities and changing lifestyle preferences have motivated a growing number of Americans to relocate away from major cities, but most people currently buying a home aren’t willing to move far, according to a new study conducted by OJO Labs. Of 500 prospective homebuyers surveyed, 41% limited their home searches to stay within six and 50 miles from their current home, while 36% planned to buy a new house only if it was fewer than five miles away, Fortune reports.

As home prices escalate to new highs, home purchases in booming metros are becoming less affordable for the average buyer, while small moves are more achievable and less expensive.

“The reality is that people are moving in the same way they always have been,” OJO Labs CEO and founder John Berkowitz wrote in the study.

"[T]alk of the Great Migration shows the separation of reality in how we focus more on the rich, and the middle and lower classes are often forgotten," OJO’s Berkowitz wrote.

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