‘Staying Put’ in One’s Home Now Has a Different Meaning
By Bill Primavera
About five years ago, I wrote an article about the advantages of staying put in the same home over a period of years, rather than moving every four or five years, which was the average length of home ownership at that time.
But today when you hear the term “staying put” in real estate, rather than the charming lifestyle benefits of familiarity with the community, the term refers to a lengthening picture for taking that step to upgrade or downsize to a new home.
Data from Moody’s Analytics and First American Financial Corporation reveals the median homeownership tenure rose to about eight and a half years last year, up from about four and a half in 2008. That is the longest tenure since Moody’s data began in 2000.
When I wrote years ago, I related how my wife and I first moved to our neighborhood as a very young couple, the “kids” on our block, while the majority of other residents were seniors, many of whom had bought their properties when they were unheated summer cottages. By the time we arrived, the houses had been converted to year-round residences and slowly began to change hands to younger couples.
Then, we watched as those small houses developed larger footprints or were demolished to make room for new construction.
Many neighbors had come and gone, but we have remained constant, and eventually were among the most long-term citizens on our street.
We had become human time machines to the passing world, observing both subtle and seismic changes from the same perspective, relating to all of our neighbors and service providers as real people and friends rather than the more anonymous existence we experienced formerly in New York City.
As long-term homeowners, my wife and I have developed strong ties to our community and enjoy participating with other residents, pulling together for common causes from preserving open space coupled with smart growth development, and joining forces to clean up the roads on Earth Day.
Our daughter benefitted by being educated in just one school system, remaining friends to this day with children she met in kindergarten.
When I’m walking down a main street in town and someone honks, waves and calls my name, I feel embraced by my lifestyles choice.
All those endearing features kept my wife and I in the same place for so long – more than 40 years – until finally we encountered one of the most prevalent things that prompt people to move on.
A home becomes too small – or too large; a desire to upgrade; determining that you have made a mistake in the home you purchased; a job transfer; personal relationships (marriage, divorce); neighborhood changes; to see one’s family more often (or less often); retirement; health problems; deferring maintenance (preferring to move rather than fixing up); desiring a lifestyle change; and becoming an empty nester.
In our case, we became an empty nester, and our home became too large. Just last month we sold to a young family who reminded us of ourselves a generation or two ago.
The typical homeowner today is staying longer for other reasons. There seems to be a new normal in the real estate business, where first-time home shoppers find very few new listings and it’s a rampant sellers’ market when they do. This shift started in the years after the Great Recession in which millions of homeowners either lost their jobs or were stuck in homes worth less than they owed the bank.
Even though the economy and the housing market have improved, economists expect longer homeownership to continue for the next decade or even longer. That is because with a better economy we can expect a steady rise in interest rates.
Another factor in staying put is the low inventory of homes for sale, a 60 percent decline from its peak in 2007, according to the National Association of Realtors. Additionally, with the Federal Reserve signaling further interest rate increases, economists expect mortgage rates to head toward 5 percent by the end of the year. The higher rates climb, the more tempting it will become for people to stay in place longer.
But, just in case there are homeowners out there who want to jump in at this opportune time to list their homes at top price points and have multiple buyers leap at the chance to bid on them, be sure to give me a call.
Primavera is a Realtor® associated with William Raveis Real Estate and Founder of Primavera Public Relations, Inc. (www.PrimaveraPR.com). His real estate site is www.PrimaveraRealEstate.com, and his blog is www.TheHomeGuru.com. To engage the services of The Home Guru to market your home for sale, call 914-522-207
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