Seattle-area homeowners are holding onto their properties at record rates — jamming up the region’s normal cycle of buying and selling.

Redfin tracks home turnover rates by looking at what percentage of a region’s overall homes changed ownership over a period of time. In the first nine months of this year, just 20 out of every 1,000 homes have changed hands in the Seattle area. That’s down from 38 homes in 2021 and the lowest regional turnover rate since at least 2012.

Seattle isn’t alone. The entire country is coming down from a high of homebuying amid irresistibly low interest rates during the pandemic. Nationwide, 28 out of every 1,000 homes changed owners in 2025. That’s likely the lowest turnover rate in at least 30 years and down from 44 homes in 2021, according to Redfin.

A major reason homeowners are staying put is mortgage rates. Despite a recent easing, they have hovered at nearly double their pandemic levels, dampening market activity.

“Everybody who was ever going to move out of their apartment or condo, and upgrade their home, did so when there was a seemingly never-ending quarantine,” said John Manning, an agent at RE/MAX Gateway. “People’s homes became really, really important to them.”

Between 2021 and 2023, home turnover rates dropped by nearly half in the Seattle area and haven’t changed much since.

Those who bought during the pandemic just finished settling into their new homes — and won’t be ready to move for a while. Others who chose to stay in their homes likely refinanced and aren’t willing to double or triple their interest rates simply for a nicer home, Manning said.

Remodeling has become a popular option for this segment of the population, said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. Seattle residents collectively spent $2 billion more on home improvement projects between 2021 and 2023, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

People listing their homes are doing so because they have to — be it for a new job, divorce or a larger family.

But Seattle buyers aren’t chomping at the bit to scoop up those new listings — leaving the region with higher-than-usual inventory this year. Experts say buyers are dragging their feet for the same reasons people refuse to sell their homes: economic uncertainty and high interest rates.

With fewer listings in recent years, home prices are going up — putting homeownership further out of reach.

A weakened job economy and layoffs in the Seattle area have chilled buying activity, contributing to Seattle’s turnover rate falling faster than the national average, Fairweather said.

More than 4,280 tech workers in the Seattle area have been laid off this year, according to state regulatory filings.

A recent wave of layoffs is likely to exacerbate fear going forward as well.

Last month, Amazon laid off 14,000 workers — 2,200 of them in Seattle and Bellevue, and Starbucks laid off almost 1,000 primarily corporate workers in Seattle and Kent.

Those layoffs have made many corporate workers, whether directly affected or not, uneasy and unwilling to make large investments.

It’s possible buying and selling picks back up again if interest rates drop, but it’s hard to say, said Manning. There are too many factors contributing to the Seattle region’s standstill.

“Nobody knows where the tipping point lies,” he said.

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