Increasing Numbers of Homeowners Are Staying Put

Hardly a week goes by without a call from someone asking us if we are interested in selling our home. Whether a flipper looking to score an off-market deal or a local Realtor searching for potential listings, our response to them is always the same: “NO, this is our forever house and we plan on leaving here in a box.”

Truth is, my wife and I had been looking for a home like ours for close to 40 years and so, when the opportunity finally arose, we jumped on it. Given the location of our home, the amount of money we have invested in it to make it fit our lifestyle, our extremely low mortgage rate and proximity to other family members, it is no small chance we firmly fit into the category of homeowners who, according to Redfin’s 01/07/25 news post by Dana Anderson declare “They will never sell.”

The Redfin article goes on to delineate potential sellers by strata, stating, “More than one-third (34%) of U.S. homeowners say they’ll never sell their home, according to a recent Redfin-commissioned survey. Another 27% say they wouldn’t consider selling for at least 10 years. Roughly one-quarter (24%) plan to sell in five to 10 years, while just 8% plan to sell in three to five years and 7% within the next three years.

Broken down by generation, older homeowners are more likely than their younger counterparts to say they’ll never sell. More than two of every five (43%) baby boomer homeowners say they’ll never sell, compared to 34% of Gen X owners and 28% of millennial/Gen Z owners.”

Data suggests that a significant percentage of homeowners, working hard over the years to eliminate their mortgage, have either attained that goal or are close enough that, in their minds, it makes no sense to sell. Using the analogy of a car, many, having paid off their vehicle, choose to continue driving it instead of opting to sell and buy a new vehicle with a new set of payments. It appears the same logic applies to sellers. In fact, looking at the demographic who would be most likely to have liquidated their mortgage payments – Boomers (those born between 1946-1964) – Redfin’s latest data reveals that 43% state they will never sell their existing home.

While the national average for moving has increased from 7 years to 13.2 years, for some … it is “never.”

Carl Medford is a licensed Realtor with Keller Williams Realty and a licensed general contractor.