Homeowners happy where they are

RP Data’s research analyst Cameron Kusher said since the mid-2000’s, the average time people now hold a property has increased thanks to a decline in housing affordability, as well as the high costs often associated with selling a home and buying a new one.

Across Australia, the current average hold period for a house is recorded at 9.0 years and at 7.7 years for a unit, respectively.

This time last year, the hold period was recorded at 8.5 years for houses and 7.4 years for units.

“The average hold period for houses and units was fairly static until late 2005 and actually began to decline during the 2001-04 property boom, however, it has since consistently increased,” he said.

For the past year, Melbourne houses and units recorded the longest average hold period at 10.4 years and 8.3 years respectively amongst the capital city markets.

“Given that Sydney and Melbourne are the most populous capital cities as well as two of the most expensive, it’s no surprise to see that they also have the longest tenure. It appears that home owners are increasingly likely to keep their current properties rather than upgrade due to the significant cost,” Mr Kusher said.

“The trend towards longer tenure is apparent across each capital city market - all of which are showing an increase in the average hold period of both houses and units over the past year. Currently, the average hold period across each capital is much higher than it was five years ago and substantially higher than they were in 2000.”