Forever Home? No, Here's How Long The Typical Owner Keeps Before Selling

After reaching a peak of 13.4 years in 2020 and 12.9 years in 2021, the average American homeowner has now only lived in their home for 12.3 years.

Although the median homeowner tenure in the U.S. has increased, it is still substantially longer than the average of 6.5 years in 2005. 

This data, which can be attributed to the "lock-in" effect, comes from a Redfin Corp analysis of the median homeowner tenure by year in the U.S. as of 2022 using historical county statistics.

The Data: Nearly 85% of American homeowners with mortgages have interest rates much lower than the current average of 6.81%.

Some homeowners are deterred from moving because it could mean giving up their low mortgage rate and assuming a higher monthly housing payment, with rates ebbing around their highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis.

That is supported by Redfin's study of data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

A fall in existing home sales is partially caused by the high percentage of homeowners who feel trapped in their cheap mortgage rate, meaning the "lock-in" effect is present in most U.S. markets.

Redfin discovered that homeowners in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. were 7.6% less likely to list their houses for sale than homeowners with a rate above 3.5%.

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