Housing trends, small is the new big, seniors to play big factor
Two important trends in the post bubble housing market are predicted. First, home sizes have turned smaller for the first time in three decades. Secondly, the aging baby boomers will likely play a big factor in the future of housing.
I just talked with a former client who now lives in the Midwest this morning about their plans for when they retire in a few years. They currently own a condo in Mount Pleasant that they bought several years ago in anticipation of returning to Charleston and retiring to but it seems that the condo is not what they really want to live in when that day comes. They don't think the square footage will be adequate, it would be a little too much downsizing, and it is a top floor unit (no elevator).
What they would like is something similar to what they currently own, a smaller home in an active adult community, master down, two guest bedrooms upstairs and maintenance free living. Square footage, approximately 2000 square feet and one or two story as long as the master suite is down.
They probably are not alone in their thinking. In fact, my wife and I are thinking along the same lines.
And that brings us to a forecast for homes that will be built in the future; there will be more one story homes with slightly less square footage than what has been built in the past.
According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chief Economist David Crowe. “The decline of the early 1980s turned out to be temporary, but this time the decline is related to phenomena such as an increased share of first-time home buyers, a desire to keep energy costs down, smaller amounts of equity in existing homes to roll into the next home, tighter credit standards and less focus on the investment component of buying a home. Many of these tendencies are likely to persist and continue affecting the new home market for an extended period.” Read more.
And for more about senior trends in housing, here is an interesting article from Housing Watch.