Although infrequently discussed, there’s another reason home prices are going up in Seattle…

The Seattle Times recently outlined how home purchase demand (and hence pricing) is also being driven up by homeowners staying in their homes longer, effectively limiting the supply of homes being listed. Of the 40 metro areas in the U.S with more than a million residents, Seattle ranks among the top five in how long home owners wait to sell their homes (10.2 years, tied with San Francisco). Seventeen years ago, the average time a homeowner held their home was just over 5.5 years.

Home owners are not selling