U.S. Consumer Moving/ Relocation: Attitudes and Behaviors Monthly Web Survey June 2009

Background

• Relocation.com authorized Dr. Nigl and Associates to conduct a series of monthly surveys to provide ongoing market intelligence regarding U.S. Consumer Moving and Relocation attitudes and behaviors. The primary goal of these surveys is to identify and track important trends in moving behavior as well as identify emerging societal and economic issues affecting consumers’ decisions to move and relocate.
  
  
• This report summarizes the results of the June 2009 survey which was launched in early June on the Relocation.com home web page. In addition, email invitations to take survey were sent to 23,000 subscribers (i.e., consumers who signed up to receive more information from Relocation.com) who had completed their move in the previous two weeks.
  
  
• Of this group, a total of 625 (3%) clicked through to the survey, however since almost 200 individuals (who came to the survey site) failed to take the survey, the exact number of e-mail subscribers who actually completed the survey is unknown.
  
  
• This survey was focused on identifying current reasons for moving, identifying the homeowner vs. renter status of recent movers as well as assessing the impact of the present economic recession and housing crisis on consumers’ decisions to move.
  
  
• The survey was limited to five primary questions and the average time to complete survey was less than five minutes.
  
  
• The final sample size of 582 is a statistically robust sample with an average error tolerance less than +/- 2.5% and a maximum error tolerance of less than +/- 4.2% at the 95% confidence interval.
  
  

How Old Are You?

• The majority of respondents (60%) who completed this survey are 35 years of age or older
• 32% were young adults between the ages of 25 and 34
• 5% were age 65 or older

How Far Did You Move?

More than half of all respondents (55%) moved less than 300 miles

Moving Distance Comparisons

In contrast to the March 2009 survey results, June mover respondents did not move as far away with only 20% moving more than 1500 miles (41% of the March consumers moved 1500 miles or more from their previous residence)

Primary Reason for Moving

Reasons for Moving Comparison

Compared to the Mover respondents in March, the June Mover respondents seem to be moving to upgrade their house and/or neighborhood rather than escaping a bad economic situation ( job loss or foreclosure)

Did You Move Yourself?

Homeowner or Renter?

Homeowner vs Renter

Moved to Improve Living Situation

Moved Due to Job Loss or Pay Reduction

Moved to be Closer to Family

Executive Summary

• Of the respondents who completed the June 2009 survey, 60% of them are Renters and 31% are Homeowners.
  
  
• ¾ of the Renters moved or are planning to move into another rental, the remaining 25% reported that they moved to purchase a home or are planning to purchase a home.
  
  
• Just under half of all Homeowners (47%) reported that they moved and purchased another home or are planning to purchase another home; 33% of Homeowners moved into a temporary rental to look for a new home to purchase while 20% of all Homeowners moved and became permanent Renters.
  
  
• The majority of current movers appear to have moved or are moving to improve their living situation whereas last quarter, March 2009 survey responses were indicative of moves made to escape bad local economic conditions or a deflated housing market.
  
  
• Only 2% of all respondents indicated that they were moving because they lost their home to foreclosure while 3% said they are moving because they lost their job or are looking for a new job.
  
  
• 65% of those who lost their job, or 2% of the entire sample, indicated that their job loss or salary reduction was directly related to the economic recession.
  
  
• In contrast to the current results, the March 2009 survey respondents seemed more likely to move or planning to move in order to escape a bad economic or financial situation with 13% of those respondents reporting a job loss and 3% reporting a foreclosure.
  
  
• Thus, the foreclosure rate reported by survey respondents has decreased by 1/3 (33%) and the job loss rate has decreased over 300% in the past 60-90 days.
  
  
• Furthermore, only 14% of all consumers who completed the March survey indicated that the primary reason they moved was to improve their lifestyle (better neighborhood or bigger, better home) compared to 50% of all consumers who completed the present survey in June.
  
  
• However, since only 26% of this group are Homeowners purchasing a home or planning to purchase a home, these results must be interpreted with caution and may not be indicative of a significant positive change in housing conditions or consumer sentiment (especially given the fact that consumer sentiment -as measured by the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index -is reported to be more negative in June than in the previous two months)*
  
  
• The present findings appear to be consistent with other published government and private sector reports suggesting that the U.S. economic recession is moderating somewhat and is less severe in June than it was in March.
  
  
• Finally, 2/3 of all respondents reported hiring a professional mover for all (31%) or some of their move (33%); this is somewhat lower than what was reported in a national survey of moving consumers in 2008 when 74% reported using a Professional mover for all or some of their move