About 20% of home owners bought their property in the past five years, CoreLogic has estimated. The data shows that 2021 was the most common year in which homes were last purchased, with 5.3% of all homes being bought in that year.

It makes perfect sense for people to buy and sell homes every few years, because as circumstances change, we may need to upgrade, downgrade or relocate. That said, if you are able to hold onto a property for the long-term, there can be enormous benefits.

First, you can avoid the transaction costs associated with buying and selling. Second, you can potentially enjoy strong capital growth. CoreLogic reports that the nation's median property price has increased by 70.2% over the past 10 years, 157.9% over the past 20 years and 425.9% over the past 30 years.

Depending on your financial circumstances, it might be possible to move without selling your existing home if you turned it into an investment property. While you’d then have two mortgages, some of that extra cost would be offset by the rent you’d start collecting.

If you want a larger or newer home, another alternative would be to renovate instead of moving: potentially, you could finance the project by borrowing against the equity in your home.

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