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Carolinas popular migration choices
Trouble in the national housing market has slowed - but not stopped - people from moving to the Carolinas.
The South and West emerged again as top destinations in a study of people's moving habits released this month by United Van Lines, the nation's largest residential moving company.
South Carolina continued a 14-year trend of inward migration - in other words, more people are moving to the state than leaving it. North Carolina had 61.6 percent of movers coming into the state and 38.4 percent leaving, giving it the highest percentage of inbound moves in the nation.
The warm climate, relatively low taxes and job growth make the Carolinas attractive to families, retirees and people displaced by job losses in the Great Lakes region, said Coastal Carolina University research economist Don Schunk.
"Michigan is a big one.
They're really getting hit because of problems with manufacturing and problems with the auto industry," Schunk said.
Michigan had the biggest percentage of people moving out. New York, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania were close behind.
Still, the number of people who relocated nationally dropped about 6 percent to 212,917 in 2007 compared with 2006. For South Carolina, that meant a drop from 4,546 to 4,177 inbound moves. In North Carolina, those figures fell from 10,833 to 9,826.
Schunk said that's because people who want to move are having more trouble selling their homes in today's market, which has been caught in the crosshairs of a mortgage meltdown. Home sales along the Grand Strand dropped 29 percent last year, according to the S.C. Association of Realtors, bringing sales back to levels seen before the real estate boom in 2005 and 2006.
Some areas have seen even bigger declines. In California and Florida, sales have dropped more than 40 percent in some areas.
"When those other housing markets start to come back, I think we'll see some of that immigration pick up again," Schunk said.
The United Van Lines figures come from its shipment data.
The study is just one company's findings on moving habits, but it's consistent with U.S. Census Bureau findings, Schunk said. The bureau has projected that 88 percent of the nation's population growth between 2000 and 2030 would occur in the South and West.
The growth helps stimulate the economy, especially the "people-driven" industries along the coast - those that heavily rely on tourists and new residents to buy goods and use services, Schunk said.
The key is ensuring that roads, schools and health care can accommodate the growth, said Horry County senior planner John Danford.
"Growth is good, so long as we plan for it."
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