Provo among the lowest tenure rates for nation’s homeowners

U.S. homeowners are staying in their houses for the longest time in at least 25 years, largely thanks to their low mortgage rates, data shows. That’s according to a study by Realtors.com published by Axios. Contrasting that is Provo, which posted the shortest tenure in the study. 

That — along with still-high home prices and tight inventory — is keeping the housing market on ice. 

The study said 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.

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 told Axios.

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. Tenure rose the most from the prior year in Merced, California (34 percent, to 12.5 years); Lakeland, Florida (18 percent, to 8.3 years); and Chattanooga, Tennessee (17 percent, to eight years).

But Provo had an average tenure of 6.9 years, followed closely by Crestview, Florida (seven years) and Oklahoma City (7.3 years).

“Markets with historically longer or shorter ownership cycles have largely stayed that way, even as tenure has increased overall,” Barber said.

Some “golden handcuffs” are starting to come loose. For the first time since 2020, the share of U.S. homeowners with mortgage rates of 6 percent or higher exceeds those with rates below 3 percent, a new Realtor.com analysis finds.