Shifting population demographics coupled with huge spending power have made baby boomers an increasingly attractive segment. A recent report on the US home improvement space is one example of how they are moving markets.
In the last post, we quoted Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies on their terrific analysis of the massive $340B home remodeling market in the US. There's another aspect of the report that is worth sharing--namely, boomers are the driving force.
Back in 2005, homeowners age 55 and over accounted for 31% (or $74B) of total home improvement spend in the US. in 2015, they accounted for 51.6% (or $114B) of total spend. Within the next decade, Harvard JCHS expects this number to increase by another 5%.
So what does this mean?
Baby boomers will drive housing markets for years to come and the sheer spend on home improvements is just one signal. Census data shows they are indeed the wealthiest generation to ever approach their retirement years (35% have incomes $95K or greater) so the spending power in unprecedented.
I'm very excited to see how real estate markets shape up in terms of buying and selling, and the terrific opportunities that present themselves. Interested in talking strategy? Feel free to reach out.