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A recent look at how long people are staying in their homes found that 39.4% of those in 65-and-over households in Richmond had moved in more than 30 years ago.
Using data from the Federal Reserve, researchers at U.S. Money Reserve, a company that sells precious metals and administers gold IRAs, found that baby boomer-owned real estate assets surpassed 40% of the U.S. total in the mid-1990s and have hovered between 40% and 50% since. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that while Americans over age 65 represent just 17% of the population, they account for 32% of owner-occupied housing units.
Baby boomers may decide to stay in their homes because they like the house, their neighbors, the neighborhood and its proximity to familiar resources, says Laura Lafayette, CEO of the Richmond Association of Realtors. They don’t want to take on a mortgage again or [don’t] feel they can afford another single-family detached home in today’s market, she says, “and if they need affordable housing options, especially apartments or progressive care facilities, we do not have enough of these units in metro Richmond.”
Looking at the region from 2013 to mid-2021, the share of starter homes sold has been in a steady decline. The greatest decrease has occurred in Chesterfield County, where the share of starter homes sold has gone from 63% to 46%, says Jovan Burton, executive director of the Partnership for Housing Affordability in Richmond. The smallest decrease (8%) occurred in Henrico County.
It would help the overall health of the real estate market, and it would certainly help would-be first-time homebuyers, if more boomers decided to sell, Lafayette says, “but they have every right to age in place, if that is their choice.”
