Rather than seek traditional retirement-style living, today’s retirees are headed in a different direction—toward their much younger counterparts.
The new wave of baby boomers are moving into hip, urban neighborhoods predominantly inhabited by a much younger demographic, reports the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Such hip, urbanized areas are experiencing a demographic shift, as a “growing chunk” of adults in their 50s and 60s—and even older—are giving up their longtime homes in place for trendy condos.
As more boomers flock to younger neighborhoods, the invasion of older buyers has “created a gold rush” in some areas, according to Dean Jones of Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty, quoted by WSJ.
More than a million baby boomers moved to within five miles of the downtown in the 50 largest cities between 2000 and 2010, notes online real estate brokerage Redfin. During this time, the same number of baby boomers moved away from neighborhoods located 40 to 80 miles outside of those largest cities’ downtown areas.
Developers are taking note of this shifting demographic trend.
Toll Brothers, a company renown for its sprawling, suburban communities, created its “city living division,” which chooses neighborhoods for projects by looking at where “young people with money” are going.
But it’s not so much a younger demographic that is attracted to Toll Brothers’ developments, as about 75% of the buyers for the company’s newest condominium in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park are baby boomers.
Substantial proportions of buyers for Toll Brothers’ other projects also indicate growing boomer interest in trendier neighborhoods in areas like Philadelphia and New Jersey, accounting for as much as 50% of the buyer clientele in these areas.
Read the Wall Street Journal article.
Written by Jason Oliva
