These NYC neighborhoods see homeowners stay put the longest

New Yorkers may be famous for sticking it out — but not all boroughs hold residents equally long. 

A new analysis from PropertyShark shows homeowners kept their properties for an average of about 11 years before selling in 2025. However, the picture changes sharply once you zoom in on where they live.

Staten Island stands out as the city’s quickest-turnover market, with owners selling after just 6.5 years on average — barely half the span seen in The Bronx and Queens, which led the city with ownership stretches nearing 13 years. 

“The Staten Island neighborhoods mentioned are mostly single-family homes and smaller multifamily homes. Usually, first-time home buyers are attracted to these due to relative affordability, and easy access to Manhattan,” Adjina Dekidjiev, a longtime New York City broker at Coldwell Banker Warburg, told The Post.

“Buyers see these homes as transitional; they outgrow them quickly as families expand and tend to move to larger homes, often in New Jersey or on Long Island,” Dekidjiev said.

Jeff Lichtenstein, CEO & Broker at Echo Fine Properties, based in Palm Beach, Florida, added that Staten Island’s more conservative nature also has people living in the borough to consider elsewhere.

“We are seeing lots more movement from New York but a giant more of it from Staten Island,” he said.

“I had one guy who moved here yesterday I talked to. I [asked] why is he moving here? Usually I get the weather but he said, ‘one reason only, politics!’” Lichtenstein said. “Staten Island is much more red and we get many people saying they want to be in the ‘free state of Florida.’ Much less so then from Manhattan.”

According to the study, nine of the 10 fastest-moving neighborhoods fall within Staten Island, led by Grasmere and Elm Park, where homes typically changed hands in less than five years.

The Grasmere neighborhood sees typical turnover at 4.6 years, followed closely by Elm Park (4.7), Arlington, New Brighton and St. George, all clustered toward the bottom of the list. 

“It’s a house-driven market, not a co-op market, and anytime people are buying detached homes instead of long-term co-ops, they move more,” Nathan Richardson, founder of CashForHome.com told The Post.

“I’ve noticed a huge chunk of Staten Island buyers are ‘non-lifers,’ being Brooklyn or Queens families who need more space and are testing the commute, then trading up or moving out again within a few years, and that alone keeps sales cycling,” Richardson added.

“On top of that, Staten Island is in one of those rare in-between stages where prices are rising, neighborhoods are improving and investors are circling. That mix always creates churn; flippers, small landlords, and first-time buyers who sell once they’ve built some equity,” Richardson said.

“When PropertyShark tracks tenure, every investor flip or LLC transfer counts as a short ownership period, so the borough looks even more transient on paper than it actually feels on the ground.”

At the opposite extreme, Queens’ Neponsit neighborhood posted the longest tenure in the entire city with Brooklyn’s Marine Park close behind. 

In Neponsit, homeowners keep properties for an average of 20.5 years, the longest tenure recorded anywhere in the city. It’s a beachside enclave where turnover is rare and multigenerational ownership is common. 

Not far behind is Marine Park in Brooklyn, where residents stay nearly 19 years on average. Other long-holding neighborhoods include Fresh Meadows and Hollis Hills in Queens, and Dyker Heights in Brooklyn — areas known for their single-family inventory, stable schools and strong community ties.

Within Manhattan, Manhattan Valley and Kips Bay proved the most rooted, each topping 13 years of ownership.

Manhattan, which averages about 10.5 years of ownership overall, shows sharper micro-market differences. 

Manhattan Valley and Kips Bay rank among the borough’s most rooted pockets, each exceeding 13 years of tenure. 

Midtown, the Lower East Side, and Fidi also show comparatively shorter cycles, reflecting condo-heavy housing stock that tends to rotate buyers more frequently.

The report points to a mix of factors behind the divide, including property type and pricing.

Single-family houses were held the longest citywide, approaching 13 years on average, while condos turned over more frequently. 

Homes priced between $500,000 and $1 million saw the slowest movement, whereas luxury properties above $3 million were sold in under 10 years.

Even neighborhood-level nuances emerged. Two Bridges in Manhattan, shaped by redevelopment and rising demand, registered the shortest tenure citywide at around four years — a sign of rapid transition in pockets of lower Manhattan.