For a state where folks are supposedly fleeing, Californians keep their homes for a long time.

My trusty spreadsheet peeked at one yardstick of longevity: Attom’s study on the average length of ownership for home sellers across the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the third quarter of 2025.

This year’s California sellers owned their homes for 11.2 years, the third-longest nationwide, and almost 3 years longer than the 8.4 years nationwide.

Remember, California’s stagnant population is not about people leaving for other states . It’s largely due to woefully few Americans moving to the Golden State.

The longest holding period was in Massachusetts, with sellers owning for 12.9 years, followed by Connecticut at 12.7 years. No. 4 was Rhode Island at 11 years, and Washington sta

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