Migration Slowdown

A new report from the Brookings Institution shows that people are moving to new homes within the United States at the slowest rate since World War II. The recent migration slowdown was the surprising, but in retrospect inevitable, by-product of an unprecedented run-up in both housing values and housing-related debt, say researchers. The credit crisis and Great Recession left Americans flat-footed because would-be movers were unable to finance a new home, or find buyers for their existing homes, or a new job in more desirable areas. We talk with Demographer William Frey about the falling rate of mobility within the United States and what it means for the Southwest, which has been particularly hard hit.

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