Posted on 04/18/2024 12:31:09 PM PDT by TigerClaws
Among the many hard truths for those trying to enter America's brutal housing market, here's one: Baby boomers continue to own many of the country's large houses, even after their households have shrunk to one or two people.
Baby boomer empty nesters own twice as many of the country's three-bedroom-or-larger homes, compared with millennials with kids, according to a recent analysis from Redfin. That means those larger homes aren't hitting the market, one factor limiting the supply for the younger generations who could use those extra bedrooms.
Some baby boomers, the generation now between the ages of 60 and 78, are happy in their large homes, using the extra bedrooms for hobbies and visiting family. Others say they want to downsize, but it just doesn't make sense financially.
Some want to downsize, but the numbers don't add up
Sherry Murray, 73, and her husband, 80, bought their house in the North Hills of Pittsburgh in 1991, for $240,000. It's got four bedrooms, including some they don't use anymore. Many of her friends are in the same boat.
"What a lot of us have done is not walled off the extra bedrooms, but closed the doors, and you try not to have to maintain them," she says. "It's just too much house at this point."
The house is paid off, and Murray has wanted to downsize for a while, but she says homes that fit what she's looking for – 2,000 square feet, all on one level, in the same suburban area – sell quickly and for a lot of money.
So they've stayed put.
"You don't want to be economically stupid. If my house is worth even $650,000, I don't want to spend $1.1 million to downsize substantially, knowing that on top of that, I'm probably going to have to pay some [homeowner association] fees," she says.
Smaller homes can cost more if they're newer, or are part of a community that provides extra services. Some metro areas have few one-story homes, making them hot commodities.
Some homeowners are also affected by what's known as the mortgage lock-in effect. While 54% of baby boomer homeowners own their homes free and clear, according to Redfin, most of those with mortgages have low rates. So it doesn't make much sense to take out a new mortgage, with rates now around 7%.
"It just is a dumb economic decision to spend that much extra money for getting so much less," Murray says.
Across the country, many baby boomers are facing their own version of this calculus: It can be cheaper — and more appealing — to stay in their current, large house, than to sell it and move to something smaller.
This doesn't only affect younger buyers.
"You've got a pure housing mismatch for older homeowners. They are mismatched physically or functionally with the house that they're in," says Gary Engelhardt, an economist at Syracuse University who studies aging and housing markets. "That's because it's multifloor living. It's stairs. It's also other upkeep."
Engelhardt says that's a serious concern because it can can lead to things like falls. "And falls can be very devastating, could have very devastating health consequences, especially for the oldest old," he says. "In general, we would like to have older homeowners ... matched with their housing in a much better way than we currently have."
So what could be done?
Engelhardt says there are basically two policy approaches to deal with what's happening.
First, he says, is to provide subsidies or tax credits for home modifications that allow older adults to age in the homes they have. While that could make seniors' current housing safer, it doesn't put those houses back into the market.
Second, encourage building housing that's well suited to older Americans, Engelhardt says: "You promote the construction of new residential units that are going to be ADA compliant, that are going to have universal design and all the types of features that lend themselves to a better match of functionality at older ages."
For instance, the government could create a tax credit to encourage developers to build accessible housing, akin to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit that incentivizes building affordable housing.
Jenny Schuetz, a housing policy expert at the Brookings Institution, says in trying to incentivize older adults to move out of homes that are now too large for them, different tools are needed depending on their geography and financial resources. For instance, a lower-income homeowner of a deteriorating row house might be willing to a swap for a newer, smaller apartment in an elevator building, if there was a program for that.
But longtime California homeowners who've seen their property values skyrocket would likely require a different approach, Schuetz says. There, Proposition 13 strictly limits increases in property taxes – so that many longtime homeowners pay taxes on a small fraction of their home's value. That created its own lock-in effect, though a recent rule change allows those over age 55 to keep their lower tax rate if they buy and move into a home of equal or lesser value.
Building more housing that's attractive to seniors
There are other policy changes that could make it easier to build housing for different life stages and thereby entice boomers to downsize.
"I think one of the things that we know to be true is that older adults want to be able to age in their communities," says Danielle Arigoni, managing director for Policy and Solutions at National Housing Trust. That's where they already have friends and neighbors, doctors and bus routes they know — familiarity that makes aging in their community possible.
Or zero cap gains if you sell to Blackrock.
Kick out the illegal immigrants and there will be less demand for the smaller homes.
People know that once you move, not only will it be expensive in the tune of 10,000 just to move your personal belongings, but your property taxes will be significantly higher even after a year when homestead kicks in. They think people are stupid.
Commie rubbish.
Exactly what I was thinking. NPR goes into the commie real estate business.
With Bidenomics forcing many of the Boomers kids and grandchildren to live with them I argue that their homes aren’t big enough. They should put their properties into an inherentable trust to insure their families futures.
if they sell them and have a mortgage they will have to finance something else at a much higher rate.
if they sell them and its paid off, they will have to pay a huge tax bill on the appreciation and then still have to pay outrageous amounts for something else to live in
If they instead hold onto it until they die, the basis resets and their heirs can sell it without paying taxes or needing to purchase something else to live in.
This is why.
Problem is that nowadays, it’s almost impossible to find a “fixer upper” in a neighborhood where you won’t get shot.
oh! and if they live in a state where they property taxes are frozen after reaching a certain age... selling and moving they would lose that and have to pay full property taxes on whatever they moved into.
Can old folks even get a mortgage?
I can hear these liberals now —
“It’s not right. Six Mexican families could live in some of these homes ...”
“ This house is too big for you, comrade. We moved 12 families into that space”
Comrade K
Who gets to say my house is “too big” for me?
The governor of Colorado just said exactly that - well, without specifying who he was talking about - as he signed a bill lifting limits on occupancy of homes.
Ratz gotta warehouse their supporters somewhere!
Another example of social engineering gone awry.
In Dr. Zhivago multiple families are living in his large home when he returns. “Yes. This way is more fair.”
Or it’s off to the gulag…
“You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy.”
I think a primary residence is exempt from capital gains taxation in the U.S.
Here’s the problem. Us old folks own our homes. Regardless of what they sell for, we need to replace them. Whatever we’d buy would generally be a lot less desirable given the prices and how they’re building them now. Also, us old folks just hate change. It’s very disturbing, psychologically. And, what’s my motivation? I want to do something to the younger generation? (Let me check my giveashit meter...nope, nothing.)
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