How is that possible? After 1 year, you are in Long-term capital gains territory, so selling now vs later is tax neutral (except for gains on gains, but that's rather minor unless you think you are in a growth stock)
The only reason to delay selling for tax reasons is if you also have a high income (over $300K?) that boosts your Long-term capital gains rate
It's possible that the second requirement is what affected ChuckMcM.
Anyway, the meta question of whether or not to pay off my house was real (my mother in law advised against, after all you get the mortgage deduction). The endowment question is also good and I find myself in the Vancouver situation in a house that I probably wouldn't spend as much as its "worth" to live in it. Future risk/reward never goes away.
What about if you live in a state with high income tax and no capital gains relief from said rate, and you think that maybe at some point in the future you might leave that state for one with a lower income tax? For example, moving from California to anywhere else.
During the dot-com bubble, long-term capital gains rates were essentially the same for most brackets (only the absolute lowest bracket had a lower rate)