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Americans Are Moving Less Than Ever, and It's Bad For the Economy (qz.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The best job for someone is not always in the area where they live. Often times, the job that will pay them most, and make the best use of their skills means moving to another city, state or country. Though making the choice to move can be difficult emotionally, it is extremely good for economic growth. Productive people make productive economies. Unfortunately for the US economy, people don't move they like they used to. According to recently released data from the US Census, only 10.1% of adults moved homes from August 2017 to August 2018. This is the lowest rate of moving since the government began collected data in 1948. The census tracks moves within counties, within states, or across states, and no matter how you look at it, moving rates are way down from just 15 years ago. For example, from 2002 to 2003, 2.8% of Americans moved across state lines. From 2017 to 2018, it was just 1.5%.
That's basically what happens when any statistic is generated.
Americans aren't moving enough? We need more visa workers!
Americans won't work for low pay? We need more visa workers!
Americans change jobs too frequently? We need more visa workers!
Not the poop though, you need a power washer for that: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/judges-complain-its-unsafe-unsanitary-outside-county-courthouse-in-seattle/
Of course, one city councilman deemed such an act racist, evocative of police turning fire hoses on civil rights protestors.
This is true ... but it's also true of the US itself. I've applied for (and been granted) professional work visas for both Canada and the US over the last decade and the process was similar in both, in that you had to prove there was no local person who had the necessary knowledge or background to do the work. You also have to prove you wouldn't be being paid substantially differently than the local for the same work.
The US is no different in this regard (at least for the L1 type visas typical for professional work). It's always a pain hiring a foreigner in any country because the company takes on the burden of sponsoring them, processing all the immigration paperwork etc.
You're also assuming folks are moving FROM a home where they have equity
Given that the OP was talking about a person who bought a house in 2014, it's safe to assume that they are moving from a home in which they have equity.
and not a condo or an apartment.
It sounds like you don't understand how condos work. People buy condos, just like they buy houses. A condo's owner has equity in their condo, the same way that a house's owner has equity in their house. A condo's owner may rent their condo out to someone else, which I'd wager is what's confusing you, but that's just as true of houses as it is condos, so it's incorrect to draw a distinction between the two.
If I were to sell my home today and move to another State into a similar sized and age home, it would cost me at least 2x - 4x as much depending on the State.
If that's actually true, yours is an abnormal situation on which we should NOT model expected outcomes. But given what appears to be a lack of awareness on your part with regards to how housing and equity works, I'm inclined to think you're simply unaware of housing prices available elsewhere. I'd love to hear the numbers for your situation and which state you're in.
I have only lived in three different countries. Every time I moved I learned something about myself and the world around me.
It amazes me how timid and frightened of change many Americans seem to be.
Timid and frightened of change because we don't want to move to another country? I've lived in 5 different states for various reasons. Never once have I considered the downgrade of moving to another country, and yes it is very much a downgrade to move virtually anywhere else in the world. That's not not timid or frightened, it's me not giving a flying fuck about your country because you have nothing I want.