Why aren’t boomers selling?

Baby boomers are booming, but they’re just not going to hit the residential real estate market the way some experts thought they would, according to Selma Hepp, chief economist for CoreLogic, a property data analytics firm.

“A few years back, we certainly heard about this cohort of people turning 65, and some said that there would be all this inventory of homes for sale,” Hepp said. “But we haven’t seen any of that happening yet. If anything, inventories are at historic lows and continue to decline year over year.”

She said one reason seniors are staying put is that home prices in some areas are about 40 percent higher than they were before the pandemic, and interest rates are soaring. Also, seniors are healthier than ever and staying in their homes longer, she said.

Instead of a wave of properties flooding the market, it will be more like a trickle. (more…)