ct-a-top-state-for-people-who-are-moving

CT a top state for people who are moving

Lifestyle

HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) – The COVID-19 pandemic led to Connecticut being a top inbound state for people who moved over the past six months.

United Van Lines looked at motivations for people who moved between March and Aug. 2020.

With “family health and wellbeing concerns” being the top motivator, Connecticut ranked 3rd among state to which those people moved.

As recently as Jan. 2020, United Van Lines released study results that showed Connecticut was among the states where people were moving out.

RELATED: States people are moving away from: Where CT ranks

Now, however, it has one of the lowest COVID-19 positivity rates in the country at around 1.6 percent, far below the national average of 4.7 percent.

The top three inbound states were Vermont, North Dakota and Connecticut.

The top three states where people were moving out of included New York, Nevada and Oregon.

The leading reasons for people moving included:

  1. Concerns for personal and family health and wellbeing
  2. Desires to be closer to family
  3. Changes in employment status or work arrangement (including the ability to work remotely)
  4. Desires for lifestyle change or improvement of quality of life

“As the nation’s largest mover of household goods, United Van Lines’ customer migration data distinctively signals broader national moving trends,” said Marc Rogers, United Van Lines CEO. “Our data provides valuable insights into what tens of thousands of Americans are experiencing and considering when moving in 2020.”

The survey found that movers influenced by COVID-19 were more likely to expedite their move, 64 percent, than movers not influenced by the pandemic, 9.6 percent.

According to the findings, there was an overall nationwide decline in moving requests from March to May 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. In particular, interstate move requests were lower in March 2020, a 26 percent decrease, and April 2020, a 31 percent decrease, than 2019 data. However, moving interest in Sept. 2020 was notably higher than the previous year by 32 percent which indicated a shift in peak moving season, which typically occurs in late spring and early summer.

United Van Lines’ study also revealed higher outbound move requests from New York City and San Francisco as compared to nationwide averages. While outbound move requests from New York were down 1 percent from the national average in April 2020, outbound interest from the state jumped to 55 percent above the average in May 2020. At the end of Aug. 2020, outbound move requests from New York were 52 percent higher than the national average. In San Francisco, outbound move requests steadily increased from 3 percent above the national average in July 2020 to 128 percent by the beginning of September.

Alex Kebalo Hughes, a realtor with Level Lifestyles, says Connecticut’s real estate market is hot. With historically low interest rates, it’s a great time to buy, but you need to have a plan and move fast. 

Houses listed in Connecticut one day could be gone the next. At the same time, Hughes says it’s never been a better time to sell your home either. She adds there are a lot of people looking to buy, property values are going up, and there is not a lot of inventory out there.

“It’s honestly insane. We’re having multiple offers on every single listing, a lot of times you’re getting not only at list price, but above, 10, 15, 20 above, and of course it varies property by property, but there are a lot of ways buyers have to try and stand out to their their offer chosen. It’s really fantastic being a seller, but as far as being a buyer, you have to be really strategic, really on the ball about getting onto the property right away because it may be here today, gone tomorrow,” Hughes said. 

In 2019, the situation was reversed as people were heading out of CT. 

“We’re seeing so many people moving to Connecticut and actually, in the same study that you’re referencing, last year Connecticut was number four as far as the state people were leaving from. Now, we’re number three as to where people are moving to. It’s just phenomenal, we’re seeing people in cities, New York, Boston, and then just want more space, they’re working at home,” Hughes said. 

Read more about the survey on United Van Lines’ website here.

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