Homeowners are holding onto their houses for a record-long stretch

"The big picture: Sellers at the end of 2025 had owned their homes for an average of 8.6 years - a record in data going back to early 2000, when the average was 4.2 years. What we're hearing: Homeowner tenure has increased steadily in almost every major metro area over the past two decades, according to ATTOM, an industry data provider."

"The "trend is especially pronounced in coastal and Northeast metros, where tenure often exceeds a decade, while many Sun Belt and Midwest markets continue to see comparatively shorter ownership periods," CEO Rob Barber tells Axios. State of play: Before changing hands in Q4 2025, homes in Barnstable, Massachusetts (14.1 years), Springfield, Massachusetts (13.5 years) and New Haven, Connecticut (13.4 years) saw the longest average ownership among metros with at least 200,000 residents."

Average U.S. homeownership tenure reached 8.6 years at the end of 2025, the longest on record compared with 4.2 years in early 2000. Tenure has increased steadily across almost every major metropolitan area over the past two decades. Coastal and Northeast metros often exceed a decade of ownership, while many Sun Belt and Midwest markets record shorter periods. Among large metros, Barnstable, Springfield and New Haven showed the longest average ownership. Merced, Lakeland and Chattanooga posted the largest year-over-year tenure increases, while Provo, Crestview and Oklahoma City had the shortest tenures. A larger share of homeowners now carry mortgage rates of 6% or higher than below 3%.

Read at Axios