Analysis from Connells Group showed that short-term homeowner moves were at a record low, with just 5% of sellers this year having owned their homes for fewer than three years.
This was down from 8% in 2016 and 16% in 2006, when house prices increased faster.
The data showed that so far this year, 14% of sellers have owned their home for fewer than five years, compared to 29% two decades ago.
Ownership periods have also risen over time, and the share of homes sold within a decade fell from 47% in 2006 to 32% this year. On average, people own their homes for around 12 years, compared to just over nine years a decade ago.
Weighing up the cost of moving
Connells suggested that homeowners were putting more thought into home moves as rising stamp duty costs encouraged people to improve their current property instead.
The typical stamp duty cost for a mover in England was £5,950 this year, rising to as much as £23,000 in London.
Higher mortgage rates have also impacted mobility in the housing market, adding to legal, estate agency and removal costs.
Further, suppressed house price growth means homeowners are making smaller gains and with less equity for their next purchase. Some may also be reluctant to sell their home for less than they paid.
A fifth of sellers in England and Wales who owned their home for up to five years sold at a loss this year, as did 23% of people selling within three years. This was significantly higher than the respective proportions of 10% and 6% in 2006.
Connells noted that this only reflected people who followed through with moving decisions and did not capture anyone who may have considered selling up but decided not to accept an offer less than they paid.
Impact on the higher-value market
The data suggested this was felt more keenly in higher-value markets.
Around 32% of homes bought for £1m or more were found to be worth less than their purchase price, compared to 7.5% of homes purchased for less than £1m.
In London, the effect this has had on moving was clear, as just 9% of the capital’s sellers had owned their home for up to five years, down from 27% in 2006 and the lowest proportion across any region.
The share of owners selling within 10 years also declined.
In the capital, it is estimated that around 21% of homes are worth less than the owner paid, compared to 7.9% nationally, excluding any value added from home improvements.
Moving is a bigger decision
Aneisha Beveridge, research director at Connells Group, said homeowners were increasingly finding that “moving no longer pays”, as higher stamp duty costs, mortgage rates and weaker price growth were why households were staying put for longer.
Beveridge added: “The result is that homeowners are less likely to make small, incremental steps up or down the housing ladder; when they do move, it increasingly needs to be a bigger, longer-term decision.
“This matters because a healthy housing market depends on people being able to move when their lives change. Whether it’s having children, changing jobs or downsizing later in life, households need the flexibility to adapt their housing to their circumstances. Instead, we’re seeing growing financial barriers make those moves harder to justify.”
She added: “Lower churn doesn’t just weigh on housing transactions, it reduces the efficiency with which the existing housing stock is used and can act as a drag on wider economic growth and productivity. Our analysis suggests that if homeowners were moving as frequently as they were in 2006, we would see around 439,000 additional housing transactions each year.”
