This study utilizes the push–pull framework to examine the impact of homestead and urban homeownership on Chinese migrants’ willingness to settle in urban areas in the long term, as well as the moderating role of local homeownership. The results show that homestead has a significant pushing effect on migrants’ long-term residence, whereas local homeownership has a significant pulling and positive moderating effect. In addition, we conducted multiple robustness tests to confirm the validity of our findings. Moreover, urban homeownership exerts significantly heterogeneous effects on long-term migration across different ages, income levels and regions. Also, migrants who own homesteads and housing are more inclined to relocate to urban areas within the same provinces rather than moving to major cities. Furthermore, we identified the mechanism that local homeownership promotes social integration, which, in turn, strengthens migrants’ long-term residence intentions in urban areas. This study enriches research on China’s land systems and urban migration and aims to shed light on enhancing existing migrant welfare, optimizing housing policies and facilitating urban integration.