"Baby boomers have a wide variety of housing needs in the future, depending on their retirement plans – or lack thereof," according to a recent study announced by the National Association of Realtors®(
NAR).
Most of the 78 million baby boomers are far from retirement, with diverse plans and timelines, resulting in different housing requirements and significant shifts from patterns established by earlier generations. The comprehensive study is based on a survey of nearly 2,000 American baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 – the largest generation in U.S. history; the survey was conducted for NAR by
Harris Interactive®."
(Source: NAR)
Click here for the full NAR news release on the Baby Boomers Study with links to purchase full study
Here's a "briefer" summary of the results that are provided in the news realease about Baby Boomers:1. Will be impacting housing for the next 10 to 20 years with different and varied needs.
2. Married later, had children later, so will work past traditional retirement ages or continue with part-time jobs or start a new business. The expected retirement age is 70, but just over a fourth say they never plan to stop working.
3. Are currently active in the workforce with children living at home. A fourth are in 55 to 60 age range, but will stay in workforce longer and more likely to not downsize, putting off purchasing of retirement property.
4. Still view Sunbelt as a retirement destination.
5. Mostly live in two-income households, with $64,700 median (2005) household income (representing just over a third of household but almost half of household income), with 8 in 10 being homeowners.
6. Home equity accounts for fully half of their net worth for middle income segment. Even so, 19 percent of middle income segment respondents are renters, 37 percent say they have just enough to make ends meet and 17 percent say they are having financial difficulty.
7. Own one or more other kinds of real estate in addition to a primary residence, spread across land, rentals, vacation/seasonal, commercial and other investment real estate.
8. Four out of 10 intend to convert their vacation home into a primary residence in retirement. (Currently own 57 of all vacation/seasonal homes and 58% of rental property.)
9. 10% plan to buy some form of real estate within the next year, (two-thirds considering a primary residence, one-third thinking about land, second homes or commercial property).
10. Most value professional real estate services and guidance from agents. When buying, they want agents to represent them in complex transaction process; when selling, they want help establishing the right asking price.
11. Most unsure of their financial future, with three-quarters saying they are not financially prepared for retirement and many expressing anxiety about their ability to retire. Some boomers said they might withdraw retirement funds for housing or real estate expenses.
12. Because of better health and office settings for work, many may work 5 to 10 years past standard retirement age of 65.
13. Retirement destinations:
a. Half would like to move from urban to small town or rural area providing a lower cost of living, being near family, quality health care, better climate and being near a body of water.
b. Over a third would like to retire in an urban or suburban setting providing health care and cultural activities.
c. Half would consider living in an age-restricted community.
14. Because of working longer, they may want larger, single-level homes with one or two offices that are low-maintenance.
15. One in four have net worth greater than $500,000 and percentage will continue to grow. They are almost all homeowners. Almost half own additional real estate. A third will help off-spring with home downpayments. When the wealthier retire, will likely retire in urban area or city because of cultural activities and other amenities.
16. Most are married couples and over a quarter have children under the age of 18.
17. Two out of five household are non-traditional households, mostly headed by women and may have different needs and desires about where they want to live. If household includes children, neighborhood schools are of obvious concern, but for those without children, security may be a bigger issue.
18. Twenty percent of boomer households are headed by women and that is likely to increase faster than average.
19. Majority will delay retirement and have larger income stream to purchase possibly two homes.
CAUTION: Surveys involve wishful thinking. Therefore, many may not be able, or want to do, what they currently desire once they reach the time when they have to finally decide.
There is a lot of information here to feed into our long-range marketing considerations as the boomer generation is the true "real estate bubble" that will be impacting all of us for a large portion, if not all, of the rest of our careers.
Visit my web site for real estate services and support: http://www.lawrenceyerkes.com/
and visit Besthomes-NJ.com to find the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (Residential, Commercial, Multi-Family, Farm, Land).
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