In 2011, a foreclosure/eviction category was created from write-in responses to the reason for move question in the Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey. Respondents who specifically stated that their main reason for moving was due to either a foreclosure or an eviction were included in this category. It accounted for 412,000, or 1.2 percent, of the 35.1 million movers in 2011.

All respondents had the option of writing in foreclosure or eviction as their main reason for moving, if applicable; however, some may have opted to select the “Other housing” reason. The “Other housing” reason is a “catch all” category for respondents whose reason for moving did not match any of the listed housing reasons. This likely resulted in an underestimate of the number of people who would have selected a “foreclosure/eviction” option. In 2012, a separate foreclosure/eviction category was added to the survey instrument. An estimated 792,000 respondents 1 year and over (2.2 percent) moved due to a foreclosure or eviction related reasons in 2012. Adding a(n) foreclosure/eviction option into the reason for move categories should cause estimates for 2012 and future years to be a better representation of the number of people who moved because of a foreclosure or eviction.