Spring is peak moving season across the U.S., and movers have seen some shifts in moving trends over the past few months.
After a surge in D.C.-area residents leaving the city and close-in suburbs for the outer burbs or rural locations starting in 2020, moving patterns are starting to reverse. That’s according to Sterling, Virginia-based JK Moving, which says it’s seeing more D.C.-area moves coming back to the city or nearby suburbs.
Based on the moves it has booked, JK Moving says top outbound destinations for D.C.-area residents relocating this spring appear to be Florida, Texas and California.
Another trend this spring has been an increase in renters or homeowners taking advantage of their move to get rid of stuff.
“We’ve seen people much more focused on pre-move purges and downsizing,” said David Cox, president of JK Moving Services. “They are doing a lot of reduction. Obviously, the more you move, the more costly the move will be. People are focused on that and doing more downsizing than we are used to seeing before they move.”
Moving less may save some money, but clearing clutter can be challenging, too. Cox said movers have three basic options:
- Sell it
- Donate it to a charitable organization that takes furniture and clothing donations; or
- Discard it.
“There are also a number of professional organizers that specialize in all three of those things,” Cox said.
There are bulk removal and hauling services companies that charge by volume, usually by how much space the items to be removed will take up on their truck — not by time to load and haul it or weight. There are also some auction services that will collect certain items.
JK Moving moves across the country as well as locally. Trends it has seen this spring nationally are an upsurge in outbound Florida volume to major metropolitan areas such as D.C., Philadelphia and New York City.
JK Moving Services says the first five months of 2023 have been flat in moving volume compared to last year, but it has seen a recent upsurge in bookings in the last 30 days, and it expects this summer to be busier than summer of 2022.
