[quote=FormerSanDiegan][quote=4plexowner]1. what about the fact that 25% of our workforce (Baby Boomers) are going to try to retire over the next ten years?

many of them will try to downsize by selling their houses
[/quote]

Why is it that all demographic arguments focus on the baby boomers. What about the children of the boomers, who actually outnumber the boomer generation ?

The first part of this wave is in their early 30’s. While the size of the echo boomer generation is not large enough to solve the Social Security problems (which relies on a large number of workers per retiree) they are larger than the boomers and will impact many other parts of the economy and society.[/quote]

Those echo Boomers already live somewhere. The bubble was unprecedented in the number of young/unqualified people who were able to buy, even in their early 20s! Others are renting.

I’m not thinking about the Boomers downsizing as much as I notice that the very desirable communities are filled with people in their 70s and 80s. Yes, some of their heirs will move in when they pass away, but many of their kids already live locally…freeing up another house.

The stock market decline took a lot of wind out of the sails of the Boomers. They were not prepared for the losses they took, and many will have to resort to “Plan B” (selling the house and cashing out their equity).

Most of them were NEVER expecting to sell their homes for prices that were reached during the bubble. Most of them are sitting on plenty of equity, and there is no reason for them to “hold on” to something when they are still making a nice profit. I think some bulls are being unrealistic in their assumptions about Boomers caring about peak prices. Most of the Boomers I know never thought those prices would ever be reached in the first place. IMHO, very few will “hold on” for peak prices when they can still sell for a nice profit and cash out plenty of equity and move to a senior community or mobile home park or live with their kids.