BANG ON!: Healthy and youthful, they’re renovating rather than selling
Who says just because the kids have moved out you need to downsize? More baby boomers are staying in their family-sized homes, but how will this affect the housing market?
Baby boomers are the healthiest, most youthful generation of retirees to date. Many are capable of, and financially able to, continuing the upkeep on their three- or four-bedroom homes.
Normally, empty-nesters downsize and their homes are sold to a new generation of young families. This pattern creates at least two real estate transactions and helps support neighbourhood rejuvenation. Boomers choosing to age in place is causing a shift in the traditional pattern of the housing market.
Instead of re-entering the housing market in pursuit of a smaller home, many baby-boomers are renovating instead of selling. Thanks in large part to boomers, home renovating has grown into a $25-billion industry in Canada.
Outdoor living rooms, gourmet kitchens and spa baths are just a few of the luxury renovations boomers are choosing, and updating the decor and increasing energy efficiency can really refresh a home. Unlike first-time homeowners in the resale market, boomers have big budgets to renovate their big homes with.
On top of home makeovers, we'll need smart policy changes to follow suit if we want our suburbs to remain vibrant. When homeowners choose to stay in their homes long after their kids are gone, it depletes the neighbourhood of school-aged children, resulting in several school closures over the last few years.
Interestingly, there are several new neighbourhoods in London full of young families with children but we can't justify building new schools while others are closing.
This impact to our education system is just one of many that boomers will have on society. We're already seeing products and services that cater to this discriminating clientele, as this is a generation who will demand change like none before them.
As boomers continue to age, perhaps one of the greatest challenges we face is how to make health care, shopping, amenities and public transit available to seniors still living in the suburbs.
Ideally, aging in place will drive practical policy change that will permit retail and light commercial businesses to come into residential neighbourhoods, creating unique small-scale communities throughout our city. Likewise, a shift in traditional NIMBYism attitudes will also be necessary to permit the transformation.
Aging in place also presents several social and economic opportunities. The province just responded by legalizing the construction of secondary suites. This new legislation will allow the existing stock of large suburban homes to be converted into smaller, separate dwelling units with private entrances.
Some boomers already have children and grandchildren living with them, helping adult children to get on their feet financially after finishing school or when starting a family.
Having a retired or semi-retired grandparent at home also helps working parents with child care, and in some cases, grown children are choosing to move back in with an aging parent struggling with a health concern. A return to multi-generational family units may assist our province with the health care burden we will soon face.
It remains to be seen how the baby boomers will affect the housing and renovation markets over the next 20 years, but we can be sure it will be significant. Fortunately, the home building and renovation industry has always been quick to adapt to market needs and able to provide products and services that help families through times of change.
Shellie Chowns is president of the London Home Builders' Association.
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