U.S. homeowners are staying put amid growing economic uncertainty and the ongoing affordability crisis, with the country’s housing market reporting the lowest home turnover rate in 30 years, according to a new report by Redfin.

Only 28 out of every 1,000 U.S. homes changed hands between January and September 2025, the real estate brokerage reported, the lowest rate since at least the early-mid 1990s.

The record-breaking data confirms that the U.S. housing market has slowed to a crawl this year due to sky-high home prices, elevated borrowing costs and other rising costs chipping away at buyers’ purchasing power despite growing inventory giving them leverage on sellers.

What Is The Home Turnover Rate?

The turnover rate corresponds to the number of homes that are sold at a certain time, divided by the total number of sellable homes that exist on the market within that same period.

This year’s turnover in the first nine months of the year was 2.77 percent, according to Redfin’s estimates, down ever so slightly from last year’s rate of 2.78 percent. 

Among the top 50 U.S. metropolitan areas, New York City, New York, reported the lowest turnover rate in the nation, selling 10.3 homes every 1,000. It was followed by some of the other most expensive cities in the country—Los Angeles, California, with 11.5, San Francisco, California, with 13.2 percent and San Jose, California, with 14.8.

Three other Californian cities rounded up the top seven list of the metros with the lowest home turnover rates. In Anaheim, 15.5 out of every 1,000 homes changed hands in the first nine months of the year. In Oakland, 15.9. And in San Diego, 16.3.

The Golden State’s predominance in this category is largely due to Proposition 13, according to Redfin. This state law restricts property-tax growth, encouraging homeowners to stay put to avoid facing steep increases in their property tax bills.

The highest home turnover rates, on the other hand, were concentrated in the South—a region which has shifted in favor of buyers in recent months. Virginia Beach, Virginia, had the highest turnover in the nation, with 35.2 out of 1,000 homes changing hands in the first nine months of the year.

It was followed by West Palm Beach, Florida (32.6), Tampa, Florida (31.2), Indianapolis, Indiana, (30.3), and Atlanta, Georgia (30.1)

Why Is This Year’s Home Turnover Rate So Low?

The main reasons why fewer homes are changing hands across the country is that homebuying and homeownership have become increasingly unaffordable. 

Home prices remain near record highs despite the pace of their growth having slowed down in recent months, with the median price of the typical U.S. home at $435,285 in September, according to Redfin.

While the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.17 percent as of the week ending October 30, for most of this year, mortgage rates remained hovering around 6.5 percent and 7 percent, more than double their pandemic lows.

High borrowing costs are not only discouraging new buyers, but also keeping homeowners locked into their homes by lower monthly payments. More than 70 percent of mortgaged U.S. homeowners have a rate below 5 percent, according to Redfin, below the current rate.

On top of that, there are growing concerns over the future of the U.S. economy—especially as the country remains in the midst of an ongoing government shutdown.

“America’s housing market is defined right now by caution,” said Chen Zhao, Redfin’s head of economics research, in a press release. 

She added: “Buyers are walking away from deals more often, sometimes due to affordability issues and sometimes because they’re re-evaluating whether now is the right moment to commit. Others aren’t even shopping, waiting instead for prices or mortgage rates to come down.

“On the other side, many sellers are staying put—either because they’re locked into low rates or unwilling to accept offers below expectations. When both sides hesitate, sales naturally fall to historic lows.”