Homeowners are moving less frequently than they did 20 years ago, with the proportion selling within three years of buying falling to its lowest level on record, according to analysis from Connells Group.
Analysis of Land Registry data by the group found just 5% of sellers in England and Wales so far this year had owned their home for less than three years, compared with 8% in 2016 and 15% in 2006.
The proportion selling within five years has also more than halved, falling from 29% in 2006 to 14% in 2026, while the share selling within ten years has dropped from 47% to 32%.
The average seller this year had owned their property for 12.3 years, up from 9.2 years a decade ago.
Connells attributed the decline in shorter-term moves to a combination of higher transaction costs, mortgage rates and weaker house price growth.
Weaker price growth has also left some recent buyers facing losses when they sell. In 2026, 20% of sellers in England and Wales who had owned their property for five years or less sold for less than they paid, compared with 6% in 2006.
Among those selling within three years, 23% made a loss, up from 10% two decades ago.
The analysis suggests the effect is particularly pronounced at the higher end of the market. Around 32% of homes originally bought for £1m or more are now estimated to be worth less than their purchase price, compared with 7.5% of those bought for less than £1m.
London has experienced the sharpest change in moving patterns, with just 9% of sellers in the capital this year having bought their property within the previous five years, down from 27% in 2006 and the lowest proportion of any region.
An estimated 21% of London homes are now worth less than their owners paid, compared with 7.9% nationally.
Aneisha Beveridge, research director at Connells Group, said: “Homeowners are increasingly finding that moving no longer pays. High stamp duty costs, higher mortgage rates and weaker price growth have created a cocktail of reasons why many households are staying put for longer than they otherwise would.
“The result is that homeowners are less likely to make small, incremental steps up or down the housing ladder; when they do move, it increasingly needs to be a bigger, longer-term decision.”
Beveridge pointed out that the decline in turnover was occurring across every region and could have implications beyond transaction volumes.
She added: “Lower churn doesn’t just weigh on housing transactions, it reduces the efficiency with which the existing housing stock is used and can act as a drag on wider economic growth and productivity.
“Our analysis suggests that if homeowners were moving as frequently as they were in 2006, we would see around 439,000 additional housing transactions each year.”
