Study Finds Fastest, Slowest Average Time Between Home Sales

Over the past decade, many homeowners have opted to stay in their homes longer. A new study finds the top five metros where homeowners are staying longest, and top five for leaving the fastest.

Looking at the 100 largest metros in the U.S., Realtor.com's findings show that El Paso, Texas residents are staying the longest in their homes, while Providence, R.I. has the shortest-tenured homeowners. In El Paso, the average time between sales of a home is 99 months, and the real estate listing website posits that lower wages are due partial credit, as homeowners are less likely to trade up, explains local real estate agent Tom Torres. However, El Paso also has an affordable housing market; the city was recently listed by Realtor.com as one of "America's middle-class meccas." By contrast, Providence residents only stay home for about 33 months, as the Renaissance City is a bastion of "here-today-gone-tomorrow" students and professors.

Conventional wisdom strongly dictates that homeowners should live in their place for at least five years if they want to walk away with a legit return on their investment—or sometimes the shirts on their backs. But in an era when even "honesty is the best policy" is a matter of debate, aphorisms aren't what they used to be. In some parts of the U.S., homeowners seem afflicted with wanderlust—pulling up roots, moving early and often. But in others, they're more apt to stay in their cherished homes for decades.

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