Philadelphia homeowners are staying put longer than ever
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Homes in the Philadelphia region just aren't changing hands like they used to.
Why it matters: That — along with still-high home prices and tight inventory — is keeping the housing market on ice.
By the numbers: Sellers at the end of 2025 had owned their homes for an average of 9.5 years in the Philly metro, per ATTOM, an industry data provider.
- That's by far the longest time in at least two decades.
- Flashback: In 2005, homeowners were averaging sub-4 years in their abodes before moving on.
Zoom out: We're also holding onto homes longer than the national average (8.6 years).
🐢 Longest homeownership average: Barnstable, Massachusetts — 14.1 years on average
🐇 Quickest turnover: Provo, Utah — 6.9 years
What we're hearing: 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 tells Axios.
Meanwhile, fewer people are owning homes in Philly.
- The city's homeownership rate was 52.4% in 2023, compared with 57.5% in 2005, per a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
What we're watching: 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% or higher exceeds those with rates below 3%, a new Realtor.com analysis finds.