Renters in the U.S. are increasingly choosing to stay in the same home for longer periods, with 33.6% having lived in their current residence for at least five years, according to real estate marketing platform Redfin. This is up from 28.4% a decade ago. While most renters still move within five years—25.6% within a year and 40.8% within one to four years—the rising costs of buying a home and moving have led many to remain in place. In 2023, 17% of renters had stayed in the same home for five to nine years, compared with 14.4% in 2013, and 16.6% reported staying for more than 10 years, up from 13.9% a decade earlier. Renters in high-cost housing markets tend to stay at their rentals the longest. In New York, only 14.9% moved within a year in 2023, followed by Los Angeles at 16.7%.
“Monthly mortgage payments have nearly tripled over the past decade, preventing many renters from being able to buy a home,” said Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari. “Rents spiked during the pandemic, but have stayed relatively flat over the past two years as home prices and mortgage rates continued to climb. That has encouraged renters to stay in the same home, where they are less likely to face major rent increases. The recent construction boom has also led to a record number of new apartments hitting the market, keeping rents down and setting 2025 up as a renter’s market where more Americans will choose to rent, or remain renters.” Read more