What Are the Top Reasons People Move?

In order to better understand what potential homebuyers want in a home, it helps to know why they are moving in the first place. Whether it is for a new job, a new family, or a new, safer neighborhood, homebuyers want houses that suit their needs. Find out what data from the 2017 American Housing Survey revealed about how people decide to make the next big move.

As 2020 begins, NAHB’s Eye on Housing is reviewing the posts that attracted the most readers over the last year. In February, Carmel Ford highlighted findings from a special study that examined reasons behind households moves.

Data from the 2017 American Housing Survey (AHS) show that over half of recent home buyers – 55 percent – move ‘for a better home’ (Graph 1). Home buyers also move for ‘a better neighborhood’ (46 percent) and ‘to form a household’ (39 percent). In contrast, smaller shares of home buyers report moving ‘for a job’ (14 percent) and ‘to reduce their commute’ (12 percent).

For its February Special Study, NAHB used data from the 2017 American Housing Survey (AHS) to create a profile of recent home buyers (those who bought a home in the two years preceding the 2017 AHS). The AHS is a nationally representative survey of residential structures in the US and of the households that occupy them (sponsored by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and conducted by the Census Bureau biennially in odd-numbered years).

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