Wish lists include main-floor master bedrooms, offices and low maintenance...
I've been following the boomer impact on the housing market for some time here on Gather. Since this topic impacts the economic outlook, housing supply, and retirement market, I wanted to release the last of my research on the subject. Here's the inside scoop, from a builder and real estate agent already working with homes specific to boomer clients, on what boomers want.
AFTER TWO DECADES BUILDING CUSTOM HOMES, the contractors at Renaissance Homes are adjusting to an emerging real estate trend: homes designed for the baby boomer set.
"We kept hearing about it from California builders, and it's finally hit here," says Kim Whitman, Renaissance's vice president of sales and marketing.
In a new study of baby boomer trends on the housing market, the National Association of Realtors found that the generation is unique in its quest for main-floor master bedrooms, one or two home offices and low-maintenance properties. Other considerations are guest quarters for older children or ailing parents.
Demand by boomers for such features already outpaces supply. Boomers make up nearly four in 10 U.S. households, with 10 percent of boomers planning to buy some form of real estate within the next year and another 40 percent planning to convert their vacation homes into primary residences in retirement, according to the Realtors group.
Yet in areas like Lake Oswego, West Linn and Wilsonville – three Portland, Ore., suburb cities -- fewer than one in five new homes built and sold in 2006 had a master bedroom on the main floor. That's according to the Multiple Listing Service database. Even boomer-catering subdivisions such as Oak Meadows -- a 55-home "community" restricted to buyers age 55 or older within walking distance of a golf course and new medical center in Newberg, Ore. -- aren't making up the difference.
This presents a challenge for real estate agents such as Lorraine DeDonato with John L. Scott Real Estate Co. A boomer herself, she has spent 27 years selling real estate.
"A good 75 percent of my business is boomers, and the rest is now their children," DeDonato says. "Boomers are really attracted to new and remodeled, because they don't want the upkeep anymore."
They're paying as much as $1 million for the right properties, DeDonato says. Those have smaller lots, wine coolers, butler pantries, places for entertaining and "definitely less yard," she says. "And I'm definitely seeing that they are gravitating more toward masters on the main, and are looking for fewer steps.
"Some of them are looking at daylight ranches with one-level living, where if the kids come to visit they're downstairs," DeDonato says. "It's the opposite of the mother-in-law quarters."
With the number of retirees growing, it’s not surprising that builders haven’t been able to keep up with demand for main floor bedrooms – coming not only from this age group but from investors and younger buyers looking for homes for all ages.
"What we find is that, with land priced the way it is … and with the small lots necessitated by the urban growth boundary, it's tough to do," says Whitman at Renaissance Homes. "We've done it, but we're squeezing."
Twenty-five percent to 30 percent of Renaissance's houses are now being built with master bedrooms on the main floors, Whitman says.
"They are primarily going to aging boomers, but what we're seeing now is a trend for everyone wanting masters on the main," Whitman says. "It's a trend that the statistics show will be here for the next 10 to 12 years."
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| Jennifer D. Meacham, Gather Money Correspondent | ||||
Jennifer's column, "The Bottom Line," is published every week to the Gather Essentials: Money channel. Jennifer also covers business/personal finance for The Oregonian newspaper and real estate news for RISMedia, and co-authored the best-selling retirement investing guide "IRA Wealth: Revolutionary IRA Strategies for Real Estate Investment" (Square One Publishers, New York). Keep up on the latest news and analysis into how you can take control of your business and personal financial future by joining Jennifer's "Self-Directed Investing 101" network. | ||||
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Comments: 12
Yo can get between 600 to 1000 sf more for the same money if you are willing to buy a house with stairs.
Curiously, most of the new construction around here is multilevel. I think part of the reason is that it is not possible to build a big enough house on a city lot if you only have one level. We have zoning laws that limit the amount of the lot that can be covered with a building.
I personally HATE ranch houses, but I understand the problems old people have with stairs.
I remember when younger; most of the neighborhoods in the sixties were predominantly ranch houses. Prior to that many of the houses downtown were shotgun style and some of many of them were multistory. Any non-shotgun style houses were multistory. It seems that in the seventies on; multistory houses were more prevalent. It seems we have come full circle.
I had a multistory house in the early 90's; I ended up hating it. When I got married I only had three criteria on the house; ranch; basement that can be finished if not already, and wood floors. After reading this and also getting a bit older; I am glad to have a ranch house now.