Apparently the economy has discouraged people from moving up or moving out. Last year, fewer Americans moved than they have since 1962:
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Al little more.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124042434548044425.html
twist -
In light of the above data point, I’d ask Doomers to review this post from our early days: Credit reaching limit – contraction ahead (December 4, 2006)
That was from when we were in close contact with Germany’s Jan-Martin Feddersen, and John Ryskamp was still anonymous Doomer “K”. I’ll especially direct your attention to this bit of my reported reply to some K correspondence.
I think there’s a great deal to be said about staying put. As in, allowing the kids to stay (and grow up in) the same neighborhood and attend the same schools. It’s also good for adults. They can put down roots, build community with their neighbors, make long-lasting friends, that sort of thing.
As for the job market, here’s a thought: There are plenty of jobs that can be done remotely via telecommuting. So, the notion of living where your job is may well be thought of as a curious relic of the Industrial Age.
about a month a read a good article that touched on the fact that families moved considerably more often from 1920-1980 than they do today. i couldn’t believe it. i always assumed my generation moved around much more than that??? i guess i just had an image of my grandparents and many of their friends/relatives that have been in the same homes since i was born so i figured that back then people bought a home and stayed put. the article pointed out though, that in more recent decades (and especially NOW) that many of us are chained to our homes.
slim (#3) -
What you say is true, however …
There’s a consequence to the principle of entropy that says, if a system is placid at the micro level then all hell will inevitably break loose at the macro level. Entomologists have found, for example, that the emergent behavior of ant armies arises as a consequence of the chaotic behavior of the individual ants. Also, the managerial level of any stable bureaucracy knows instinctively that chaos must be continually be visited on the worker level (reorganizations, random office moves and work reassignments …) or some insurgency against the status quo will develop.
So the news that Americans aren’t moving house as often now as in the recent past is an ominous sign for the powers-that-be, in much the same way that the low risk premiums of the recent Great Moderation were a sure sign (for those who were awake) that catastrophe was immiment in the financial world.
………………………..
cpgone (#1) -
Nice dig
“Fewer in U.S. Move as Economy Falters”, by Conor Dougherty, Wall Street Journal, April 23, 2009.
Slim #3, said, “So, the notion of living where your job is may well be thought of as a curious relic of the Industrial Age.”
This type of employment is also quite limited and apparently saturated as we observe ever greater unemployment month after month.
The telecommuter is limited by the number of “information jobs” that can be created. Real jobs are created out of real needs and do not materialize from pure social desire.
Information at some point must be related to the physical job force who make up the majority of our employment. One cannot exist without the other, although “Information jobs” are far more dependent on the physical sector than vise-versa.
So don’t count the industrial jobs as relics quite yet.
mtnmike -
There’s all the online work you could possibly want out there …
Just don’t expect to get rich doing it
(“Darn,” says Igor, but we are paying for him. You should see what Austin TX is charging for a Dragon License these days!)
AZSaluki-
You should see the memoirs of Mr. Twist’s grandmother.
During the Depression, Mr. Twist’s grandparents worked summers on road crews in the mountains of Wyoming. He ran equipment, she fed the crew. They lived in a tent. During the winters they bounced around and stayed with relatives.
In the early 1940s when my father-in-law was a boy, a relative gave them a piece of land and they built a tiny house themselves.
After reading her memoir, I understood why then loved that place and she stayed there 50 years. She was grateful to have a roof over her head.
I wonder how many were like her, and chose to live out the rest of their lives somewhere small and affordable? We only got to know them later, when they couldn’t be budged with a crowbar.
John- (#7)
I think the problem is the carbon offsets. : )
I’ve lived in Phoenix and Sacramento and while in Phoenix I always heard that it trailed the Sacramento housing market by 6 months. I’ve been tracking both and there appears to be some truth to that. Check out http://www.metrohousingreports.com. They show that prices and volume have stabilized in the Sac over the past few months and you can see that the Phoenix trend seems to be following that trend, but the lag is closer to 8 months. Things are by no means good in Sac so PHX could be looking at a year plus.
Twist – Of course, nowadays, the government would tax her right out of that place. Want to grow some food and live? Sorry, that land you think is “yours” is occupied by you only at our leisure, you must give us 2% of whatever we say the land is worth every year or we’ll kick you out on your rear.
The only private property in this day and age consists of things you can (i) carry with you and (ii) protect by force.