A new Harvard report lays out the wide-reaching impact of a coming upswing in senior homeowners Baby Boomers have spent decades impacting and re-shaping the U.S. economy, and show no signs of slowing down as they enter their golden years. That?s especially true when it comes to the housing market, according to the latest report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Projections and Implications for Housing a Growing Population: Older Households 2015-2035 doesn?t have the catchiest title, but its conclusions and implications are both far-reaching and extremely consequential.
The number of Americans over 80 will double, from 6 million to 12 million, in the next two decades, according to JCHS statistics, and by 2035, one out of three U.S. households will be headed by someone over 65. That?s a population of 79 million. A vast majority of these older Americans will own as opposed to renting, living with others in multi-generational housing, or those living in nursing homes (in fact, nursing home usage has dropped over the past two decades as alternatives for home care proliferate). Your parents or grandparents will be part of a historically large surge in the senior population that will change healthcare and make a huge difference in U.S. housing.
The time for homebuilders, planners, and local governments to act is now. The coming upswing in the older American population demands quick action to create more affordable housing, improve accessib...