From the San Diego Transcript - but totally relevant everywhere: At 55, San Diego architect James Robbins isn’t thinking about retiring anytime soon, but he recently made a lifestyle change with those golden years in mind. He sold his home in an outlying suburb and purchased a two-bedroom, two-bath condominium in a luxury high-rise development downtown.
In addition to the panoramic views and first-rate amenities, including pool and fitness centre, Robbins wanted a more urban environment close to cultural and recreational facilities, as well as a “lock and go” residence for when he does reduce his work load and increase his travel and leisure schedule.
Robbins is typical of many aging boomers who are seeking a different kind of housing, one that offers maintenance-free living not far from where they’ve worked and lived.
As the spectre of retirement and empty-nesting looms large for those born between 1946 and 1964, these so-called baby boomers are hardly entering old-age homes or assisted living facilities. From downtown condos to active adult communities to age-targeted apartments, developers are scrambling to find a housing type that fits the needs of this less than stereotypical greying market.
“Don’t call them aging, don’t call them seniors and certainly don’t offer them early-bird specials,” said Peter Dennehy of Sullivan Group Realty Advisors. “They don’t like it.”
For good reasons, he added. After all, this is a generation that expects to work past the traditional retirement age. It’s also a group with active, healthy lifestyles that are in turn helping them have even longer and more productive lives.
According to Dennehy and many in the real estate industry, this is the perfect time for homebuilders and community developers to target the shifting housing needs of baby boomers — the nation’s richest age group — as they enter the slowdown and semi-retirement era. This post-World War II generation is buying property as an investment and often as their “aging-in place” home.
Gopal Ahluwalia, staff vice president of research at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), said older buyers want a home with all the goodies but none of the maintenance. They are looking for places with less lawn to mow and less floor space to carpet and clean.
“The boomer — who can travel, see the world and play golf or tennis when he so chooses — is seeking to cut down on the amount of time and energy they have to expend on upkeep of their castles,” said Ahluwalia. “This is a step between single-family and senior housing.”
Lifestyle changes are the main reasons people over 55 decide to move into a new home, said Norman Cohen, chairman of the NAHB’s 50+ Housing Council. “Because they are choosing to move based on creature comforts or changing circumstances, the older buyer is often less affected by the ups and downs of the housing market.”
Many boomers expect to “age in place,” given their active and affluent lifestyles. The number of seniors living outside of nursing homes and other assisted-living facilities is projected to more than double by 2030. There’s also a shift of large numbers of older folks living in the suburbs. Previously, most elderly lived in cities.
Wherever they live, aging residents indicate that what they want from their homes and communities is the flexibility to accommodate a range of physical abilities and growing old needs – along with other amenities, including accessibility to services, transportation and wired houses.
More importantly, boomers have an entirely differently mentality than their retiring parents. Today’s 55-plus segment wants to downshift but not necessarily to be shipped out to the outskirts of town into a seniors-only community.
The challenge for planners, designers and builders is to create liveable neighbourhoods, with appropriate and affordable housing, adequate options for mobility and the community features and services that can facilitate personal independence and continued engagement in civic and social life.
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