The 10 Housing Markets With The Highest Turnover, Where Homes Are Likely To Go On Sale Faster

Getty Images; Chelsea Jia Feng/BI

• Homeowners are staying put for much longer periods of time, reducing available inventory.
• It's contributing to the lock-in effect and sending home prices surging.
• These are the 10 least locked-up housing markets, according to Redfin.

Americans are holding on to their homes for longer, and it's becoming a big issue for prospective homebuyers.

From 2005 to 2024, the median homeowner tenure rose from 6.5 to 11.8 years, according to a Redfin analysis . Longer homeowner tenure, alongside higher mortgage rates, is contributing to a lock-in effect where fewer homes are being listed on the market.

However, there are still some attractive markets where homeowners aren't holding on for decades, the Redfin analysis showed.

Why aren't people moving?

If you bought a home before 2022, you probably secured a mortgage rate of around 3%. But for the last three years, the 30-year mortgage rate has hovered between 6-8%, disincentivizing homeowners from selling into a market that would result in higher mortgage payments.

Mortgage rates aren't the only reason homeowners are staying put. Local regulations also play a part, the Redfin report said. For example, homeowners in California pay a 1% tax rate on their home's assessed value, and state laws limit tax increases to 2% a year. As a result, those who bought a home before prices spiked during the pandemic are incentivized to stay put instead of moving and paying higher property taxes.

As a result, cities like Los Angeles and San Jose top Redfin's list of markets with the longest median homeowner tenure, at 19.4 and 18.3 years, respectively.

The aging US population is another factor sending the average homeowner tenure up. According to Redfin, older homeowners are less likely to move than younger ones. Many boomers are aging in place instead of moving and downsizing. Others are holding on to their homes to avoid federal capital-gains taxes on a sale.

While it's a financially savvy move for homeowners, staying in place is causing serious affordability issues, especially for younger generations.

"Tight inventory only pushes home prices up more, and adds to the generational homeownership divide," Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari wrote in a recent note.

An unlocking market?

There are some positive signs that the housing market could be opening up. Mortgage rates have decreased for the last six weeks: the 30-year rate is hovering at 6.4%, down from 7% at the beginning of the year. Some investors are hopeful that mortgage rates will continue to fall this year on the possibility of the Federal Reserve cutting rates to stimulate the economy.

Overall homeowner tenure has also actually decreased slightly since its pandemic high of 13.4 years in 2020.

And not all housing markets are equally afflicted by long homeowner tenure. It's easier to move around in cities with more affordable housing. Louisville, KY boasts the shortest homeowner tenure at eight years, and its median home price of $262,500 is significantly lower than the national median of $425,061, according to Redfin.

Below, in ascending order, are the 10 markets with the shortest median homeowner tenure, according to Redfin.