Colorado seeing surge of outbound moves from the state this summer
It is the height of the busy moving season and several large van lines say they're seeing a surge of bookings for people moving out of Colorado.
Could the state's runaway popularity as a relocation destination be starting to wane?
Housing prices no question are playing a role in these trends.
Shantell Payne is preparing to leave the state, landing a nice sum with the sale of her Aurora townhome. Payne was born and raised in Denver, and most of her extended family is here.
So she's disappointed her hopes for buying a single family home – and building the future she wants for her son Elyjiah - wasn't possible here in Colorado.
Payne said, "I decided that I didn't want to change the outcome, the vision I wanted for my life, so we'll just pick up somewhere else and see what we can do there. So that's what we're doing."
In Georgia, Payne was able to find her dream home about 30 minutes outside Atlanta, in the mid $400 thousand dollars, and highly rated public schools too. Cashing in on some of that Colorado equity.
"I want to provide the best life I can for my son and I knew I would not be able to do that out here in Colorado," Payne said.
We contacted several large moving companies, and all reported marked growth in bookings for out-of-state moves. The data is a good leading indicator of population shifts.
- UHaul says its Colorado teams are seeing a stream of one-way outbound moves this year
- Allied Van Lines says its gap between in & outbound moves for the state is narrowing
- And the Colorado business of United Van Lines has changed direction this year
United Van Lines Vice President for Corporate Communications said, "In 2022 so far we have seen Colorado shift from an inbound state to more of an outbound move state. It's jumped up to 18th on our list, whereas in years past we've seen it more of an inbound move state."
Colorado's healthy job market continues to attract newcomers though -- and interest rate hikes will affect home pricing everywhere – effectively slowing down moving activity.
Colorado's State Demographer Elizabeth Garner says moving company data is just one indicator. Bread and butter newcomers to the state are 23-35 and don't likely use moving vans.
"I would say it's probably still too early to tell in terms of what that net will be for 2022, in 2021 it had slowed significantly," Garner said. For the most current time period from 2020-2021 the net migration for the state was a positive 14,700.
Shantell Payne meanwhile is grateful her tech job's comfort with remote work brought the future she wanted within reach, "My family is extremely proud. They're excited. Most of them have already bought their plane tickets to come down and see us after we move down there."
Allied and United Van Lines report the same three destination states for outbound moves from Colorado, the populous states of Texas, California and Florida.