One in six American adults (16 percent) has moved within the past 12 months, with 57 percent relocating to homes within a 25-mile radius, according to a survey commissioned by SpareFoot, an online marketplace that streamlines the rental process for self-storage customers. In addition, 18 percent of movers cited settling into a bigger or better home as being the most common reason for relocating, while 15 percent said their move was work-related.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 12 percent of Americans older than age 1 changed residences in 2012, up from a record low of 11.6 percent between 2010 and 2011. The moving period covered by the SpareFoot survey was spring 2012 to spring 2013. In terms of regional relocations, the South had the highest percentage of movers (19 percent), followed by the West (18 percent), Midwest (14 percent) and Northeast (12 percent), according to the SpareFoot survey.
Our survey shows that, buoyed by the continuing economic recovery, more Americans are on the move. This is a good sign for the housing market and for any company that helps people move, said Chuck Gordon, CEO.
The release of the survey results coincides with the first National Moving Day on May 28. Each year, the day after Memorial Day is considered one of the busiest days of the year for moving and jumpstarts the summer moving season, SpareFoot officials said. The day is sometimes referred to as Crazy Tuesday in the self-storage industry, the company said.
The demand for storage and the resulting call volume and foot traffic are enormous on this day at self-storage facilities across the U.S. It is the self-storage equivalent to retails Black Friday, said Tron Jordheim, vice president of marketing at StorageMart, a Columbia, Mo.-based self-storage operator with more than 130 locations throughout the United States and Canada.
Moving-truck companies also experience a surge in activity the day after Memorial Day. National Moving Day marks an unofficial start of our peak do-it-yourself moving season for one-way and local truck rentals at our over 2,200 locations across North America, said Don Mikes, senior vice president of rental for Penske Truck Rental.
The SpareFoot survey was administered by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, which conducted 3,004 phone interviews in three polling sessions between April 25 and May 12. The survey has a margin of error of 2.1 percent.
Founded in 2008, SpareFoot.com helps consumers find and reserve self-storage units, with comparison shopping tools that show real-time availability and exclusive deals. There are more than 6,500 self-storage facilities in its network. The company also provides Web-marketing solutions for storage facility owners and operators including AdNetwork, SiteBuilder and GeoPages.
