Why Are Homeowners Choosing Not to Sell?
Why Are Homeowners Choosing Not to Sell? The average tenure of homeowners remaining in their current homes has increased from an average of four years in 2007 to 10 years in September 2018, according to First American's report on Potential Home Sales released on Thursday. The report indicated that despite rising home equity, rising interest rates were creating a financial disincentive that prevented existing homeowners who had locked in their mortgage rates when they were low, from selling their homes. This, in turn, according to Mark Fleming, Chief Economist at First American, was "further limiting supply and restricting existing-home sales from reaching their potential." Citing data from DataTree by First American, Fleming pointed out that just prior to the financial crisis homeowners stayed in their homes for four years, but that tenure increased to around seven years between 2008 and 2016. "Many people remained in their homes because their mortga
