Active Retirement Communities Miami FL
Bad Economy Means Active �Younger� Adult Communities
New Study Shows Positive Signs Ahead for 55+ Communities
Retirement Communities Prepare for U-Boomer Invasion
305-652-0636
Miami Gardens, FL
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Mulberry, FL
Bad Economy Means Active �Younger� Adult Communities
The press has been filled with reports of financial troubles in the retirement housing and real estate markets.
Faced with unsold units, vacant lots and empty condos, the reaction of some active adult communities has been to try to expand their base. The obvious way to do that is to let in younger buyers. Many active adult communities are age-restricted to at least one resident who is at least 55 years of age. Typically, unless the community has at least 80% of its population 55+, they do not meet federal regulations that allow developments to exclude children. At the many other active adult communities that have no official age restrictions, the fact is that most of their residents are 55 or better.
On the one hand letting in younger buyers might be able to fill more units, but it could have ramifications on the other side. Existing residents, for example, often chose to live with people their own age; away from noisy children and rushing commuters. Neighboring towns that lobbied to attract these active adult communities feel betrayed, since the communities were let in with the expectation that their older residents would pay taxes, but not demand expensive services like schools.
One of the communities profiled in a recent Wall Street Journal article was Sun City Grand in Surprise, AZ. This Sun City lowered its minimum age to 45 from 55, although children under 19 are still not permitted as permanent residents. The plan seems to work, as some younger people are attracted to these communities for their recreational opportunities. Many residents are pleased as well with the additional financial support younger people bring to the community, citing excess capacity when aging residents gradually stop using communal facilities. Leisure World in Mesa, AZ is another community that has lowered its age requirements; many others are considering the change. Century Village in Deerfield Beach, FL, one of the nation’s oldest and biggest active adult communities (it has 254 condominium buildings), has people talking about making the change. Two of the biggest reasons to change are falling prices and unsold units - proponents of the change think that sales to younger buyers could prop up a devastated market, while detractors say the change would be unfair to existing residents who bought with the understanding they would be living with people their own age.
Meanwhile in housing for older seniors
Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs), asssisted living, and retirement homes have been hit hard because older seniors haven’t been able to sell their homes. That sale is usually necessary to allow seniors to come up with the equity necessary to buy into these facilities or make the hefty monthly fee payments. Entry fees to CCRCs can easily go over $300,000, depending on the unit and luxury of the community. Monthly fees can go over $10,000, although typically they are about $3000-5000. Two of the biggest operators were profiled in the N...
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New Study Shows Positive Signs Ahead for 55+ Communities
| January 17, 2011 — Both buyers and sellers in the 55+ market have been marking time for the past few years, waiting for some positive sign that the worst of the bleeding is over. A new report, using data from the 2009 American Housing Survey and reported on by the Met Life Mature Market Institute and the National Association of Home Builders, contains some findings that might indicate things could finally start to turn around. Not that they, or we, are predicting anything like the crazy times of 2004-2006, when buyers slept on floors to be the first to bid on new homes, sight unseen. But perhaps a steady 55+ market where the long-predicted pent-up demand matches supply, and buyers can sell their existing homes and start to look around. Here are some of the key conclusions from the study, which is loaded with interesting facts about the 55+ housing market and its buyers: - Age restricted and defacto 55+ home purchases amount to about 31% of the market, and that share is slowly climbing. Given the huge increases in the 55+ population that will occur over the next decades, this is a very positive trend for the future. People over 55 who live in non 55+ communities, however, still account for the lion’s share of the market (69%). Only about 3% of people aged 55 or over live in age restricted communities, although many times that number rent or own homes in communities where most of the residents are 55+. - Prices are down slightly from their peak in 2005, when the median age restricted home sold for $320,000 (the median was $300,000 in 2009). In other 55+ communities the downside was more pronounced, going to $255,000 from $300,000. While that is good news for buyers, it is not for builders. - Predictably, poor liquidity in the housing mark has hurt buying in the 55+ market. Whereas in 2005, almost 100% of buyers used money from the sale of another home to make the down payment of their new home, only 55% used that source in 2009. Coincident with that, almost no buyers tapped personal savings to purchase their new homes in 2005, while 55% of buyers used that source in 2009. If, and it’s a big IF, the general housing market can return closer to normal, that trend will probably translate to a more robust 55+ market, as buyers get access to a source of cash (their homes) that has been denied to all but the wealthiest buyers lately. - The desire to be near family and friends is the overwhelming motivation for 55+ households to move. When it comes to why they choose a particular community, however, buyers have become much more practical than they were just a few years ago. Although design, amenities and appearance of the residence and the community are still very important, practical aspects of the decision such as budget are more important than they were before the recession. Renters, however, appear to be much more motivated by price. - More people 55+ indicate that they will continue to work. Whereas in 2001 only 2% ... |
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Retirement Communities Prepare for U-Boomer Invasion
April 5 — You’ve heard of the U(na)-Bomber and U-2 the rock group. Now get ready for another U, the U-Boomers. Forbes Magazine recently published an article that differentiates among different sub-sets of baby boomers. The U-Boomers are a huge segment that constitutes about 24 million of the 76 or so million baby boomers out there.
The “U” stands for uncompromising, so U-Boomers are folks who intend to maintain their lofty lifestyle aspirations - but who won’t necessarily have the financial means to execute on those dreams. The article is a call to action for baby boomer marketers. U-Boomers are such a big and important group that these marketers have to figure out creative ways to meet boomer demands — without going beyond the resources available to them. This group is expected to represent 25% of total U.S. consumption by 2015.
For marketers of active adult communities, that will be a challenge. Part of the solution is in positioning communities so they deliver high value and prestige without pricing the product out of reach. Maybe that means inexpensive hiking and biking trails instead of ultra-expensive golf courses. Or intimate clubhouses instead of monstrous edifices. A la carte services instead of the buffet approach. Environmentally sustainable communities that not only keep energy expenses down, but make U-Boomers feel like they are fashionable and responsible. Or, co-housing communities that use the community to deliver services at a reduced cost.
From all we here about the poor state of retirement preparation that exists among baby boomers, there certainly seems to be something to this demographic. We can’t wait to see which over 55 developers try to tackle it - and how they do it.
Posted by Boomer1 on April 5th, 2008Click here to read the rest of the article from TopRetirements.com