Last Updated on September 1, 2022
Consumers 55+ will buy more than half of new U.S. homes in next 5 years
The summer is shaping up to be one of the hottest on record in the Carolinas – and the real estate market is heating up as well.
One of the strongest segments of today’s home-buying public is the Baby Boomers. Born from 1946 to 1964, the Baby Boomer generation controls almost 70 percent of the disposable income in America and half of all Consumer Product Goods spending.
According to a recent Metrostudy report, this group of 79 million Americans will buy more than half of new U.S. homes in the next five years.
“The Baby Boomers are no longer your Grandpa’s generation. They are owning their freedom and their choices. They are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to real estate,” said Pat Riley, president and COO, Allen Tate Companies, in the July-August edition of Carolinas Market Update, a bi-monthly real estate video series.
And what you might believe about the real estate preferences of Baby Boomers is likely wrong. According to a Merrill Lynch/Age Wave survey:
- 83 percent of Baby Boomers choose to retire in the same state. Those who move do so to be closer to family.
- Half of Baby Boomers do not downsize when they move. In fact, 30 percent upsize to make room for family to visit or live with them.
- Fewer than 10 percent make renovations to their home to prepare for aging. Of those who do, a third add a home office because they plan to continue working.
“Two-thirds of Baby Boomers say they are living in the best home of their lives,” said Riley. “If you’re in the market to buy a home, don’t be surprised if you find yourself competing against a determined Baby Boomer.”
Carolinas Market Update is targeted to consumers in the Charlotte, Triad, Research Triangle and Upstate S.C. regions. It is produced every other month by the Allen Tate Companies and features information, statistics, trends and predictions about the real estate market in North and South Carolina.
