Median homeownership tenure nationwide was around 11.8 years in 2024, according to a recent report from Redfin.
That’s flat compared with 2023 and down from a peak of 13.4 years in 2020, according to the firm’s data.
But as with all things real estate, average tenure can vary among markets. In California – where Proposition 13 can lock owners into low property-tax rates – homeowners are staying put much longer, Redfin says.
In Los Angeles, the median tenure in 2024 was 19.4 years – the longest span on record for the area.
Los Angeles was followed closely by San Jose, with a median tenure of 18.3 years.
Homeowners in San Francisco, San Diego and Riverside also stay put longer than the average American, according to the report.
Cities that have seen the biggest increases in homeowner tenure over the last decade include Providence, R.I.; Los Angeles; San Jose, Calif.; New Orleans and San Francisco.
Proposition 13, adopted in 1978, mandates that homeowners pay property taxes of 1% of their home’s assessed value, and strictly limits tax increases.
For a lot of California homeowners, especially in expensive coastal areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco, it doesn’t make financial sense to more than double their property-tax rate to buy a similar home in the same area, Redfin says.
“Long-term homeowners tend to have low monthly payments. If they were to move – even using their equity as a down payment—they would have a much higher monthly payment because home prices and interest rates have soared over the last several years,” says Gregory Eubanks, a Redfin Premier agent in Los Angeles. “Many older homeowners are adding on and creating a multigenerational home, with their kids and grandkids moving onto the property. And even many people who do move hang onto their house and rent it out because low property taxes and low monthly payments make them view it as a financial asset.”
Sheharyar Bokhari, senior economist for Redfin, says it’s understandable that many Californians hang onto their homes, as they’re financially motivated to do so.
“But it’s a problem for young people trying to break into the state’s notoriously expensive housing market,” Bokhari says. “Tight inventory only pushes home prices up more, and adds to the generational homeownership divide.”
Photo: Andre Ouellet