Owners Staying in Homes Longer Than Ever

It should come to no surprise to both prospective homebuyers and Realtors® that current homeowners are staying in their homes for record long times.

With historically low inventory, is the lack of available housing to blame for homeowners staying put? It’s a chicken or egg situation.

In fact, 25.1% of homeowners in the U.S. in 2020 had lived in the same home for 20 years or more, a recent Redfin study found. This is an increase of nearly 11% from 2010 and 16.5% since 2005. A typical homeowner in 2020 had lived in their home for 13 years, an increase of 4.3 years from 2010 and 6.6 years in 2005. Pittsburgh, Montgomery County and Philadelphia were all specifically named as areas where homeownership tenure increased even more than the national rate in U.S. in 2020. Tenure ranged from 15 to 15.3 years.

“As home prices continue to climb, moving is becoming increasingly burdensome for Americans and their wallets. Prices surged 15% last year,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said. “Consequently, a lot of families are opting to refinance their mortgages, so they can benefit from record-low interest rates without putting their houses up for sale.”

Another reason people are staying in place is that they are delaying their move to a retirement community, due to the pandemic. Senior Housing News’ annual outlook survey on the senior housing market found that occupancy rates had declined with the pandemic, but most experts expect an uptick throughout 2021, especially in the second half, specifically for independent living and memory care facilities. Perhaps this will add some much-needed inventory to the market.