How long have you lived in your current home? If it’s been a while, you may be thinking about moving. According to the latest  Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers  by the  National Association of Realtors  (NAR), in 2019, homeowners were living in their homes for an average of 10 years. That’s a long time to be in one place, considering the average length of time homeowners used to stay put hovered closer to  6 years .

With today’s changing  homebuyer needs , especially given how the current health crisis has altered our daily lifestyles, many homeowners are reconsidering where they’re at and thinking about moving to a home with more space for their families. Here’s why it might be a great time to make that happen.

The real estate market has changed in many ways over the past 10 years, and current homeowners are earning much  more equity today  than they used to have. According to  CoreLogic , in the first quarter of 2020 alone, the average homeowner gained approximately  $9,600  in equity.  If you’re considering selling your house right now, you may have accumulated more equity to put toward a move than you realize.

Dialing back 10 years, many homeowners also locked in a fairly low mortgage rate. In 2010, the average rate was only 4.09%. This motivated homeowners to stay in their houses longer than usual to keep their rate low, rather than moving. Just last Thursday, however, average mortgage rates hit a  new historic low at 2.86%.  Sam Khater,  Chief Economist  at  Freddie Mac explains :