Typical Homeowner Stays in House for 11.8 Years, Redfin Reports

(Image courtesy of Redfin)

Redfin, Seattle, released a new report finding that the typical U.S. homeowner stays in their home for 11.8 years.

That’s flat from 2023, and down from a peak of 13.4 years hit in 2020. That’s significantly higher than the 6.5 years typical in 2005.

That varies by area, however. In California, homeowners are staying put for much longer. In Los Angeles–the metro area with the homeowners staying the longest–the median tenure was 19.4 years in 2024. That’s followed by San Jose, with a median tenure of 18.3 years.

Redfin noted that in California’s case, a state regulation–Proposition 13–incentivizes them to stay for longer due to tax provisions. While another–Proposition 19–is designed to allow older homeowners to keep relatively low tax rates when they move went into effect in 2020, it’s unclear at this point how effective it has been at promoting more housing inventory.

“Long-term homeowners tend to have low monthly payments. If they were to move–even using their equity as a down payment–they would have a much higher monthly payment because home prices and interest rates have soared over the last several years,” said Gregory Eubanks, a Redfin Premier Agent in Los Angeles. “Many older homeowners are adding on and creating a multigenerational home, with their kids and grandkids moving onto the property. And even many people who do move hang onto their house and rent it out because low property taxes and low monthly payments make them view it as a financial asset.”

The metro area with the largest uptick was Providence, R.I., with a median tenure of 16.8 years in 2024, compared with 10.9 years in 2014.

The area with the shortest tenure is Louisville, Ky., where the typical homeowner stays put for 8 years, followed by Las Vegas (8.4 years) and Charlotte, N.C., (8.7 years).

Redfin defined tenure for 2024 as the number of years between the most recent sale date of a home and Dec. 1, 2024.