Over 55s Showing Increased Confidence in the Housing Market

Over the past few years many people’s retirement plans have been left in a state of disarray due to the financial and economic challenges that have arisen. Those who had previously been dreaming of downsizing to a smaller place or to a different location completely, have had to put their plans on hold.

Now it looks as if things are recovering nicely as confidence in those aged 55 or older is returning with a vengeance. According to the article in RISMedia, recent data from the National Association of Home Builders shows builder confidence in the housing market for the over 55s is continuing to improve, with figures for the third quarter of this year being the highest since the housing market index for this age group was introduced.

These are figures should give builders more confidence to begin to jump-start planned communities and housing developments for the over 55s across the United States. In addition all segments of the housing market are showing strong increases, including multifamily rental properties, condominiums and single-family homes. According to the chief economist for the National Association of Home the Builders, the market for retirement homes and planned communities is improving as this particular group are now more likely to be able to sell their current property, enabling them to move to a new home more suited to their needs.

Other news reported by the National Association of Home Builders focused on a recent study asking homebuyers what they'd really like in their new home. Potential home buyers were asked to choose their top three characteristics from a list of 10. Not surprisingly most rated the appropriate number of rooms to meet their needs combined with living space the highest. Some 65% chose this as being the most influential characteristic whereas energy efficient features came in at 39%.

According to the study, some 83% of home buyers thought contractors who had specialized designations were more credible and professional, while 78% thought they would provide a better standard of craftsmanship and better quality work. Three quarters thought they would provide better service levels and will be more reliable, and 64% would be willing to pay a higher price for the expertise provided by a specialized contractor.

Separate figures provided by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the US Census Bureau highlights the growing confidence of builders as the seasonally adjusted annual rate of single family and multifamily starts reached 1.09 million in November, an increase of 22.7%. It's thought the figures could be even higher if lending conditions weren't so tight.