As Boomers Start Turning 80, Their Contribution to Housing Demand Is Starting To Wane

The oldest baby boomers will begin turning 80 this year, marking a major milestone that will have implications for the housing market for years to come. The number of households headed by baby boomers declined by 3.5 million between 2015 and 2025, a trend that will only accelerate in the coming years, according to new research from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.The accelerated loss of older households suggests that less new construction may be needed to accommodate future generations, as millions of existing homes will be vacated. However, the transition will need to be managed carefully, to ensure vacated units are returned to the housing stock rather than falling into obsolescense, the study warns."As such, managing the growing number of vacated units will be a concern for both the public and private sectors in the decades ahead, with major implications for neighborhoods and markets, home prices, rents, and housing affordability more broadly," writes JCHS senior housing associate Daniel McCue.The boomer generation has a longer life expectancy than the generations before them. When the first boomers were born in the 1940s, the life expectancy was 63 ye...