Does the tough real estate market/economy have older Boomers sitting on their homes?
Roughly 87 percent of agents of real estate agents surveyed by the company cited the poor economy as delaying plans by Baby Boomers to sell their homes.
That includes a fair number of older Boomers (56-64) nearing retirement, sitting on suburban homes they had planned to sell, but now presumably waiting until the real estate market and economy settle out.
Many of these older Boomers, in turn, would like to downsize to a condo or townhome, according to roughly half the agents surveyed.
It's a significant finding for Greater Boston, which suffers from a chronic lack of decent inventory.
Sure, some of it has to do with our housing stock, with too many homes falling into the category of older, overpriced and in need of an upgrade. But there are likely more than a few gems out there as well that older Boomers are simply sitting on, unwilling to part with until they see signs of a market turnaround.
By contrast, with older Boomers, younger Boomer clients (47-55) would rather buy a single-family home than a condo, according to 80 percent of the agents surveyed by Coldwell Banker.
All this raises a larger question, though. Given the highly uncertain state of the economy and the real estate market, is it really a viable strategy to sit and wait, hoping for better days to come along?
It took a decade for the real estate market to regain its bounce after the late 1980s crash - it may take even longer this time around.
Basically, what you see right now is what you get - and that is if we are lucky. Another global downturn and all bets are off.
So what do you see out there?
