Orange County cities with the cheapest homes had longer average ownership than the average pricey neighborhood Orange County cities with the cheapest homes had longer average ownership than the average pricey neighborhood A new study by real estate researcher Steve Thomas estimates that based on last year's home sales data, the average length of local homeownership is 23 years, just a tad shorter than 2014's 24 years. Thomas based his projection by comparing home sales data vs. the number of homes that were owned, or the rate of turnover.