People are staying in their homes longer than ever before, but it may pay off big for them should they choose to move.
That’s according to a recent report from ATTOM Data Solutions, which stated that both homeownership tenure and home seller profits simultaneously hit new highs.
ATTOM’s Year-End 2019 U.S. Home Sales Report states that the average American home seller took in a $65,500 profit in 2019. That’s up from $58,100 in 2018 and up from $50,027 before that.
In percentages, that seller profit represents a 34% return on investment compared to the original purchase price. In 2018, sellers saw a 31.4% return, while sellers in 2017 brought in a 27.4% return on investment.
“The nation’s housing boom kept roaring along in 2019 as prices hit a new record, returning ever-higher profits to home sellers and posing ever-greater challenges for buyers seeking bargains. In short, it was a great year to be a seller,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM Data Solutions.
“But there were signs that the market was losing some steam last year, as profits and profit margins increased at the slowest pace since 2011,” Teta added. “While low mortgage rates are propping up prices, the declining progress suggests some uncertainty going into the 2020 buying season.”
And while the average home sellers are bringing in higher profits than ever before, homeowners are also staying put longer than ever before too.
ATTOM states that homeowners who sold in the fourth quarter of 2019 had owned their homes an average of 8.21 years. That’s an increase from a homeownership tenure of 8.08 years in the third quarter.
That said, the national average tenure certainly does not apply to all cities including Colorado Springs, Colorado (down 9% in housing tenure); Modesto, California (down 7%); Visalia, California (down 5%); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (down 5%) and Olympia, Washington (down 5%).
However, people living in Connecticut seem to be there for the long haul. According to the report, the top five longest homeownership tenures all stemmed from the northern state, including: Norwich (13.49 years); New Haven (13.32 years) Bridgeport-Stamford (13.23 years); Torrington (12.33 years) and Hartford (12.25 years).
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