Are Baby Boomers Getting Bigger?
Last week I wrote about the unmistakable downsizing trend that baby boomers are taking, as they near retirement and downsize from their larger suburban homes to places that are more centrally located and urban.
But there are boomers in Nanaimo that are going against the trend, and instead of downsizing they are actually moving up to larger, more spacious homes.
There are several reasons for this counter-trend in baby boomer home buying.
First, while today's generation of baby boomers is the for the most part the healthiest and wealthiest in history, their children sadly enough often times are not. So today’s boomers make the practical decision of up sizing with the idea of having a multi-generational home with private living space for mom, dad and the kids, and common area space for the entire extended family.
Next, buying a home is an emotional decision, and there are those baby boomers who have worked long and hard their entire lives and want to retire into their dream home. And typically that dream home means a large house on a large lot, with space for the kids and grand kids to stay when they come to visit.
The third reason that some baby boomers are up sizing rather than downsizing is that they find it hard to pass up what they see as a good real estate deal. Here's why: As more boomers decide to sell their larger, suburban homes at the same time in the same place, more homes come on the market more or less simultaneously, and that ends up driving overall prices downward.
For the baby boomer who is moving against the downsizing trend and is instead looking to up size, a larger home in Nanaimo at a smaller price is a deal that's hard to pass up!