Survey Finds Consumers Seeing Housing Market Better

There are signs the housing markets are returning to a more normal state, according to a survey conducted for Relocation.com. The survey, conducted in June, found that 50% of those who moved recently did so to improve their living situation. A Relocation.com survey done in March found the recession had a much larger role in the decision to move. The top reason to move was living in a bigger and/or better home, cited by 26% of respondents. This was followed by better neighborhood, 24%; closer to family/friends, 12%; lower cost of living, 9%; and change in marital status, 6%. Those respondents who moved because of foreclosure or losing their jobs were among the categories in the survey that garnered a response of 3% or less. "Even in the midst of the toughest economy in years, people who are moving are still motivated by the same things that motivated them in the past: to make a better life," says Sharon Asher, founder and chairman of Relocation.com. "Despite the drumbeat of bad news, our survey indicates that consumers are starting to return to actively making positive moving choices, and fewer reactive moves due to the down economy."