WASHINGTON -- Americans may be buying more homes than ever before, but they're not changing places as much, according to the latest government figures.

While both new and existing homes changed hands at a record pace last year, the percentage of residents moving from one home to another actually fell 16.5 percent during the 12-month period between March 1997 and March 1998, the Census Bureau reported.

Only about 43 million people moved during the period, according to the government's nose counters. That's roughly 16 percent of the population.

The reason for the discrepancy, explains demographer Carol Fisher, is that the nation's is getting older, and moving rates tend to decline as people age.

During the March-to-March period, only 4 percent of those 65 or older moved. At the same time, a third of those age 20-29 changed residences. Also, only 8.2 percent of all home owners switched places during the period vs. a third of all renters.

Of the 43 million movers, furthermore, 27.1 million didn't go very far, choosing instead to remain within the same county. And 7.9 million more movers stayed in the same state. Only 6.4 million found digs in another state. The other 1.2 million movers came to the U.S. from abroad.

Hispanics had the highest moving rate, 21.2 percent, whiles whites had the lowest at 14.5 percent. The moving rate among African Americans and Asians was about 19 percent for each group.

Geographically, people in the Northeast moved least (11.5 percent) as opposed to those in the west who moved the most (19.4 percent).

In another Census Bureau report, meanwhile, the government estimates that the nation's resident population could double by the end of this century.

According to official projections, the population could leap from 273 million, the count as of July 1 last year, to 404 million in 2050 and 571 million in 2100.

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Published: January 27, 2000

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