Twenty-eight out of every 1,000 (2.8 percent) homes have changed hands in 2025 — the lowest turnover rate in at least 30 years, according to a new report from Redfin.
Redfin’s analysis examined the period between 2012 and 2025, but it can confidently say this year’s 2.8 percent turnover rate is the lowest since at least the early to mid 1990s. Existing home sales back then were similar to this year, but the number of homes that existed was smaller — meaning the turnover rate was higher.
This year’s turnover rate (2.77 percent) was down slightly from 2.78 percent in 2024, when existing home sales fell to the lowest level since 1995, according to Redfin.
There were 37.7 percent fewer homes sold this year than during the middle of the pandemic buying frenzy in 2021 (44 of every 1,000), and 31.2 percent fewer homes sold than during the last pre-pandemic year in 2019 (40 of every 1,000).
Redfin said homes are turning over at historically low rates because:
- Home prices are near record highs and borrowing costs remain elevated, causing the number of sellers to far outweigh the number of buyers.
- More than 70 percent of mortgaged homeowners have a rate below 5 percent, which is below the current rate of 6.17 percent. While the share of mortgages above 6 percent is at a 10-year high, many homeowners are still rate-locked and unwilling to sell.
- Concerns about job security, inflation and broader instability caused many would-be movers to delay major purchases, further slowing the pace of transactions.
“America’s housing market is defined right now by caution,” Redfin Head of Economic Research Chen Zhao said in a release. “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.”
The rate of homes being listed for sale in the first nine months of the year rose a little to 3.9 percent — meaning 39 out of every 1,000 homes were listed for sale. It was the third-slowest rate of homes being listed in records going back to 2012, just a fraction higher than last year’s 3.7 percent and 2023’s record low of 3.5 percent.
This year’s rate is down 25.2 percent from before the pandemic in 2019 (52 listings per 1,000 homes), and down 24.3 percent from 2021 (51 listings per 1,000 homes).
Around 30 out of every 1,000 single-family homes sold in the first nine months of this year, a slightly faster clip than the roughly 22 out of every 1,000 condos/townhouses that sold.
The sales turnover rate for condos/townhouses fell 3.3 percent year-over-year, while the rate for single-family homes ticked up 0.6 percent.
That’s in line with Redfin data showing how hard it is to sell condos this year, with an estimated 72.3 percent more condo sellers than buyers nationwide in August.
Around 33 out of every 1,000 condos/townhouses were listed for sale in the first nine months of the year, while around 41 out of every 1,000 single-family homes were listed for sale.
Virginia Beach, Va., topped the list of the 50 most populous metros with the highest turnover rate, with around 35 out of every 1,000 homes sold in the first nine months of the year.
The next metros with the highest turnover rate this year were West Palm Beach, Fla. (32.6 sales per 1,000 homes), Tampa, Fla. (31.2 sales per 1,000 homes), Indianapolis (30.3 sales per 1,000 homes) and Atlanta (30.1 sales per 1,000 homes).
Demand in the Sun Belt has softened since the peak of the pandemic and the sales rate is continuing to drop fast in many of the region’s metro areas, according to Redfin.
San Antonio’s turnover rate fell to 24 sales per 1,000 homes, down -26.9 percent from a year ago and the biggest decline among the top 50 metro areas. Next came Charlotte, N.C. (-19.9 percent), Jacksonville, Fla. (-17.3 percent), Miami (-16.7 percent) and Orlando, Fla. (-16.1 percent).
The only three major metros to post a faster turnover rate from a year ago were Virginia Beach (+5.3 percent), San Francisco (+2.6 percent) and Indianapolis (+1.4 percent).
New York recorded the lowest turnover rate among the top 50 metros, with about 10 out of every 1,000 homes selling in the first nine months of the year.
Next came six California metros, led by Los Angeles (11.5 sales per 1,000 homes), San Francisco (13.2 sales per 1,000 homes) and San Jose (14.8 sales per 1,000 homes).