Boom! Wave Of Retiring Baby Boomers Driving Multi-Housing Industry
Demographers have known for decades that the Baby Boom generation would have huge implications for the U.S. as they aged. Now that the earliest boomers are in their 70s and more are rapidly approaching that age, we’re seeing the effects on multifamily and senior living construction.
People 65+ will grow from 13% of the U.S. population to more than 20% in 2030, notes Clifton Larson Allen in its 2018 Senior Living Trends report. BD+C magazine summarizes well what this means for multi-housing: “A growing cohort of Baby Boomers and other empty nesters are opting to downsize and relocate from suburban to urban environments, often choosing to rent instead of buy.” The upshot is demand for 4.6 million new apartment units by 2030.
Despite strong growth for the nation as a whole, Yardi Matrix sees some bumpiness when looking at individual markets. The commercial real estate data service “indicates that multifamily deliveries might outpace demand in some key U.S. housing markets,” reports BD+C. Markets at risk of oversupply in the next five years include Charlotte, North Carolina; Dallas; Denver; Miami; Phoenix and Seattle. However, for the citizens looking for homes in these areas, this does mean that there are plenty of fantastic homes near Charlotte available that could make a superb living space.
Against this backdrop of bumpy growth, the BD+C editors this summer identified “5 giant trends poised to change the face of construction.” Number one among those is offsite construction. They note: “Once a novelty, offsite construction is taking hold across the industry, as labor shortages persist, the Lean movement grows, and tech-based workflows become prevalent. Major GCs are moving toward manufacturing-based operations, and select owners are requiring prefab on projects.”
Senior living is one of the key sectors at the forefront of adopting modular and pre-fab construction. “I would portend that senior living communities, with as much repetition as you see, are a prime candidate [for modular construction],” said Chris Frommell, managing partner for senior living development services firm Direct Supply Aptura, in a Senior Housing News story this summer. “Building well with modular construction is building better, faster.”
We at SurePods keep a close eye on the multi-housing market, and will keep you updated with the latest trends in future blog posts.