Boomer needs driving home and condo developers…

From a recent news feed comes this story about the upcoming wave of retirements and home downsizing by the so-called Baby Boomer generation. It is influencing what condo builders and home builders are doing. Two-thirds of baby boomers who make more than $100,000 intend to downsize in suburbia, according to a report from building industry watcher Hanley Wood. Boomers are the Americans born between 1946 and 1964 and number 78 million strong -- 28 percent of the population.

Robert Tippets, past-chairman of the 50+ Council for the National Association of Home Builders, says the growing force of silver-haired buyers will influence the building trends and designs of condominiums in the coming years. "For one thing, units are getting larger to accommodate empty nesters who want extra rooms for offices, computers and guest quarters," he says. In the past, it was hard to get larger units that size outside of luxury condominium projects.

Another survey of baby boomers by active adult developer Del Webb Boomers demonstrates the mobility of boomers as they age: 44 percent want a smaller house once they begin the empty nest season of life. Many Boomers want a place that they can “lock and leave, as they pursue their dream of retirement travels. Condos tend to work well for that.

The same percentage wants a home that requires less maintenance as their top reasons for moving.

62 percent rate maintenance as a "paramount issue in choosing a home"

36 percent plan on moving more than 3 hours away from their current residence, many into areas that will allow them to be closer to children

26 percent are planning to purchase a home in an active adult community when they retire.

From what I see in this area there is also a movement towards small, walkable communities, like Milford; with downtown areas that feature coffee houses, restaurants and useful stores. The retirees that I have worked with also want places with everything for them on the entry level and do not like condos with multiple levels and lots of stairs.

With development pretty much stalled out in this area, we don’t see a lot of new developments to examine for these trends. Many of our local condos were build or planned years ago, so they are still the townhouse style that younger people tend to like, many with garages underneath, so that one has to climb at least on set of stairs to even get to the living space. Retiring Boomers are not going to like that. We’ll have to wait out the current building lull to see how local developers react to the coming wave of Boomer downsizing.