Most Homes Will Last More Than 100 Years

Everybody knows buying a house is a long-term commitment. After all, the typical mortgage is paid over 30 years and the typical home seller has been in their home for almost 10 years. In other words, homeownership isn’t for frequent movers or anyone with a strong case of wanderlust. But regardless of how long you stay in one place, you aren’t likely to outlast your house. That’s because most homes will last around 100 years, according to a new analysis from the National Association of Home Builders of numbers from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In fact, just 0.59 percent of all housing units are lost each year. These homes are lost for various reasons – including demolition, disaster, conversions, mergers, and homes that are put to non-residential uses. And that rate is pretty consistent whether the home was built in 1983 or 1962. In fact, when broken down per decade, the annual loss rate is fairly steady, though it does accelerate to just over 1 percent for homes built before 1950. Overall, the data suggests most of the homes built recently will still be standing 100 years from now and, even if you bought a house built 40 years ago, it’ll likely still be standing strong in 2076. More here.