Aging-in-place Boomers disrupting trend to sell late in life and move on. Boomers have held bulk of US real estate for more than two decades.
Boomers Taking Aging-in-Place to New Levels
The concept of aging-in-place was growing in popularity pre-pandemic but now, Baby Boomers are taking this concept to new heights.
According to Federal Reserve data, Boomers took the reins of the bulk of this country’s real estate in 2001 and have held those reins tightly for the last two and a half decades.
Boomers Have By Far Most Real Estate Wealth Compared with Other Generations
Boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, have held the most real estate wealth of any generation since 2001.
Take a look at these numbers provided by The Federal Reserve:
Q1 of… Silent Gen. Boomers Gen-X Millennials
1990 66.8% 32.4% 0.8% 0%
1995 58.8% 37.7% 3.5% 0%
2001 44.3% 45.0% 10.6% 0%
2005 36.2% 46.9% 16.5% 0.4%
2010 29.0% 49.0% 20.1% 2.0%
2015 23.1% 45.7% 25.5% 5.7%
2018 18.4% 44.6% 28.1% 8.9%
2019 16.1% 43.8% 29.7% 10.4%
2020 14.2% 44.0% 30.5% 11.3%
13.6% 13.6% 44.1% 31.2% 11.2%
Where Does That Leave Next Generations in Line for Homeownership?
According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) 2021 Home Buyers and Seller Generational Trends Report, some 24% of recent buyers have been Gen-Xers, the largest percentage of buyers in all age categories. However, some 24% of all sellers were also Gen-Xers.
The result? Gen-Xers have recently bought and sold real estate at the same rate, rather than making substantial gains in homeownership and real estate wealth.
Yes, Gen-Xers are increasing their share of real estate, just not quickly enough.
By 2029, the youngest Boomers will become 65 and the oldest Boomers will become 83. Likely, only some of these Boomers will sell their homes.
As more and more Boomers choose to age-in-place, younger generations will simply have to wait their turns before they can increase their respective shares of real estate wealth.
Thanks to the Federal Reserve for its data, to Bankrate’s analysis of that data and The New York Times.
