Mortgage Rates and Affordability

New ATTOM data show U.S. homeowners kept their homes for an average of 8.6 years at the end of 2025, the longest tenure since at least 2000 and roughly double the 4.2‑year average at the start of that period, helping keep the housing market 'on ice.' Tenure has risen in nearly every large metro, with especially long holds in coastal and Northeast markets like Barnstable, Massachusetts (14.1 years), Springfield, Massachusetts (13.5) and New Haven, Connecticut (13.4), while Provo, Utah (6.9), Crestview, Florida (7.0) and Oklahoma City (7.3) remain among the most mobile. Year‑over‑year, some metros saw striking jumps, including Merced, California, where average ownership length surged 34% to 12.5 years, and Lakeland, Florida and Chattanooga, Tennessee, where tenure rose 18% and 17% respectively. The pattern reflects 'golden handcuffs' from ultra‑low pandemic‑era mortgage rates, though a separate Realtor.com analysis finds that, for the first time since 2020, more owners now carry mortgage rates at or above 6% than under 3%, suggesting some of that lock‑in may slowly ease. Economists and housing analysts on social media are tying these numbers to tight inventory and high prices that continue to sideline first‑time buyers and constrain labor mobility in high‑cost metros.