Senior Spotlight: Boomers Are The #1 Buyers
Did you know that Baby Boomers purchased 39% of all homes according to NAR®?
If you think all Baby Boomers are staying in place, we have some data that just might surprise you! According to data just released from the National Association of Realtors®, Baby Boomers represented the largest share of homebuyers from July 2021 through June 2022 at 39%. This represents a 10% buyer share increase from the prior 12 months. This is the first time this generation has ranked #1 in home purchases since 2012!
Comparatively, millennial home purchases shrank to 28% of the buyer pool, down from 43% the year prior. The primary reason that Boomers are taking the lead is the one word that often reigns king: cash.
Boomers have had more time and thus more income earning years; most have already been homeowners and earned substantial equity in their current homes, enabling them to sell and pay all or mostly cash for their next home purchase. On the contrary. Business Insider explains that:
“The housing market is not a generation-versus-generation cage match.
But at a time when there aren't enough homes to go around and homeowners rely on rising property values to build wealth, it can feel like the prosperity of one generation has to come at the expense of another. And in this battle between youth and wisdom, it appears gray-haired house hunters are taking one last chance to trump their less-seasoned successors.”
Given that there are more millennials than anyone else, according to NAR® Deputy Chief Economist & VP of Research, their lag behind the Baby Boomers in terms of home purchases exemplifies the challenges of the housing market today.
In the 1960s and 1970s when Baby Boomers came of age, housing starts were 50,000 new homes per 1 million people every year. This building boom drove homeownership rates of well over 50% by age 30, whereas the same can be said of only 48% and 42% of Gen Xers and millennials respectively. Now in their later years, the share of buyers aged 60 and over has grown by nearly 50% from 2009 to 2019, meaning youngers buyers are facing greater competition from their parents & grandparents.
Industry experts do not expect this trend to change anytime soon. Having a lot of equity and maintaining a desire to stay out of care facilities means that Boomers are likely to be a leading force in the housing market for years to come.
May every buyer in every age and stage of life attain just what they want, need and hope for in a home. It’s the greatest place there is after all… may we rejoice in that sentiment this spring season & always!
All my best,
Bobbi
Resource Used:
Bobbi Decker
DRE#00607999
Broker Associate
650.346.5352 cell
650.577.3127 efax
www.bobbidecker.com
NAR Instructor….“Designations Create Distinctions”
CIPS, SRS, ABR, CRS, SRES, GRI, CLHMS, REI, AHWD, RSPS, MSLG
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