Home Owners Feel Stuck, Opt to Remodel Rather than Relocate

A major force behind America’s housing affordability challenge isn’t just a market issue — it’s largely a mobility issue. American households are relocating at the lowest rate ever recorded.

In 2024, only about 1 in 10 households changed homes, according to analysis from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. Moves within the same state, which make up the majority of relocations, also fell to a record low. Cross-state moves declined as well after their pandemic-era bump.

Key Factors Suppressing Household Mobility

Fewer people are moving largely because of three powerful forces:

• Millions of home owners are “locked in” to ultra-low mortgage rates.
• Home prices remain elevated. 
• Older home owners increasingly choose to “age in place” by modifying their current homes rather than selling.

Together, these factors are continually limiting the number of homes on the market, slowing the overall housing cycle. In 2024, roughly 320,000 fewer home owners relocated compared to the year before.

Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages in 2024 averaged about 6.7% — more than double the historically low rates available just a few years prior. At the same time, the typical single-family home costs about five times the median household income, near record highs.

Home prices and mortgage rates have improved slightly through 2025 and into early 2026, but not enough to incentivize many home owners to move, especially those who would have to give up their sub-3% rate. As a result, home sales have remained relatively flat.

Growth Opportunities in the Industry

However, the combination of record-low household mobility with healthy amounts of home equity presents a silver lining for housing: The remodeling sector is poised for significant growth.

“The typical age of a home has increased from 31 years old in 2006 to 41 years old in 2023,” said NAHB Economist Eric Lynch. “And with the dramatic rise in home equity post-pandemic, more home owners are able to finance remodeling projects that align with their needs.”

Lynch also pointed to the dramatic rise in the number of remodeling businesses as evidence of growing demand. In 2000, there were approximately 69,000 remodeling firms in the U.S. That number swelled by nearly 86% to more than 128,000 at the start of 2025. The home improvement spending share also increased from 33% in 2007 to 44% in the first quarter of 2025.

Looking ahead, NAHB expects residential remodeling activity to increase 3% in 2026 and an additional 2% in 2027.