Study: 6 in 10 Homeowners Don’t Plan On Moving Anytime Soon

The most recent S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index shows that home values have increased by 6.3% over the past year. Wages have increased 2.7% in the past year, and the unemployment rate is at the lowest its ever been post-recession, which is why most homeowners say they don’t plan on moving anytime soon.

A new Bankrate.com report found that over 6 in 10 homeowners (62%) say they do not ever plan to move while the remainder anticipates that they’ll be staying in their current home for at least another five years.

“Americans are essentially staying put in their homes for the foreseeable future, either by choice, or by necessity or some combination,” said Bankrate.com senior economic analyst, Mark Hamrick. “Because of this, prospective homebuyers are finding a real lack of quality, affordable inventory, which can lead to bidding wars and risky overspending.”

Source: Bankrate.com

While the majority of homeowners (79%) don’t plan on moving in the next half-decade, 35% say they are more likely to remodel, upgrade, or add to

their current home during that time. Over the next five years, the likelihood of making improvements to their current home exceeds the likelihood of moving to a new home across all age and income brackets.

Statistics:

• More than 1 in 5 Americans (21%) own their primary home without a mortgage.
• Another 32% are currently paying off their mortgage.
• The median reported mortgage rate is 3.95%
• Nearly 3 in 10 mortgage holders (29%) either don’t know or won’t say what their mortgage rate is.
• For groups who could benefit from a good refinancing opportunity like millennials
  , the statistic is higher at 37% and Gen Xers at 35%.
• Thirty-nine percent of both Gen Xers and Baby Boomers (ages 54–72) say they have a mortgage on their primary home.
• Twenty-seven percent of younger Boomers (ages 54–63), 38% of older Boomers (ages 64–72), and 51% of The Silent Generation (ages 73+) own a home without a mortgage.
• Sixty-one percent of those ages 18–30 say they do not own their main home. However, older millennials (ages 31–37) are equally as likely to own a home than not (43%).

For those unaware of their mortgage rate, Hamrick urges them to “immediately take time to learn that rate as well as whether they have an adjustable or fixed-rate mortgage.” To find the answers, it might require logging onto a website, calling a mortgage service, or digging through paperwork.

“At issue is whether one should consider refinancing, including  going into a fixed-rate mortgage, before rates and monthly payments head higher from here,” Hamrick said.