Highlights
- Boomers are the most likely group to buy a new home
- 55+ Communities are being redefined
- Drawn to Custom Homes
- Photo galleries and Interactive Floorplans
- Sales Center Kiosks allow for visualization along with face-to-face contact
As the real estate industry tries to evolve to better serve their new largest group of buyers in millennials, a new movement has largely affected the sale of new construction homes.
Boomers are decisively buying more new construction homes.
For quick reference, baby boomers were born between 1944 and 1964. They’re currently between 55-75 years old (76 million in U.S.)
In 2019 over 18% of Boomers bought new construction, while only between 6-12% of Millenials and 15% of GenX did. [1]
55+ Communities
As Boomers reach pre-retirement and retirement age many of them are choosing to simplify and downsize. This is particularly common amongst empty nesters. While retirement and pre-retirement communities are nothing new, Boomers are redefining what they look like. Many of today’s 55 and up communities market their residents as “active adults”, with the intent of branding their communities as places for longer, healthier, and more social lives. The draw for prospective residents is to live in communities with those that have similar life stages, and similar lifestyles. Items of high importance include low-maintenance communities and resort style amenities. Boomers are willing to pay higher HOA fees for their exterior home maintenance such as lawn care, snow shoveling, and security monitoring. Likewise, Boomers pay higher HOA fees for resort style amenities.
“ In a survey his company conducted among those over age 55 who were planning to move within 12 months, about 10 percent of respondents said they were extremely likely and 14 percent said they were very likely to move to an active adult community.” [2]
What Baby Boomers are looking for
As the most financially established group of homebuyers, Boomers have the buying power to design and build their ideal homes in their ideal communities. Amongst Boomers, there are several strong trends.
Convenience is the top factor in home designs for Boomers, making ranch style homes abundantly popular amongst them. The absence of stairs is viewed as a major convenience factor, and ensures that the entire home is still accessible in the event that the buyer’s mobility decreases in later years. Additionally, raised countertops and attached garages are trends that this group of buyers gravitate towards as features that will provide longevity in usage. [2] This makes the availability of Interactive Floorplans a critical item for builders to have available on their websites, second only to photo galleries. [3]
Boomers also look for modern finishes and luxury features are willing to spend extra money to customize their home to fit their style. Valuing face-to-face interactions, Boomers prefer picking out custom features on an in-office kiosk, with an agent present. This provides highly valued personal interaction, while they can visualize their home in real-time. Conversely, millennials prefer to have access to interactive feature changes on their smartphones.
Sales Kiosk App
Rendering House’s Sales Kiosk App allows for the buyer to enjoy an immersive and comprehensive visualization experience. It allows builders to showcase their community and amenities while also providing virtual tours, which allow for buyers to visualize their design selections. Our apps are connected to the cloud, meaning that pricing, options, lot statuses, inventor, and other key pieces of your company’s data will sync instantly and automatically.
[https://renderinghouse.com/sales-kiosk-app/]
[3] https://www.55places.com/blog/housing-trends-for-the-55-crowd
