Retirement Living News

December 2005

HEADLINES  (Click on headline to read story)

* Boomers Becoming More Interested in 55-Plus Communities
* Pulte Homes/Del Webb, Levitt and Sons Addressing Demand for Active Adult Communites in Georgia
* 2006 Hurricane Season Expected to Also Be Fierce and Destructive
* Trends and Characteristics of Senior Homebuyers Profiled in National Survey
* Web Site Helps Find Medicare Drug Coverage Firms in Each State
* New Book Discusses the Joys and Discomforts of Retirement

Archive of Past Issues                          New Retirement Communities

NEWS STORIES

Boomers Becoming More Interested in 55-Plus Communities 

As baby boomers begin planning for their retirement, age-restricted communities are becoming one of the fastest growing markets for homebuilders nationwide. More than 25 percent of the 1.2 million new homes projected to be built this year will be bought by someone older than 50, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). 

Boomers want a more appealing retirement than their parents had and their demands are reshaping the housing market, said Debbie Miller, an associate broker with McEnearney Associates in McLean, Va., who specializes in 55-plus housing. This generation is looking for housing that is packed with luxury homes, clubhouses, billiard rooms, cafes, walking trails, community centers and gyms. "They don't want to live a stodgy life. They want activity and they want to be closer to theaters and restaurants," she added. 

Jeff Jenkins, assistant director of the NAHB's 50+ Housing Division, agrees. "The days of shuffleboard are long gone," he said. "These buyers today are more sophisticated. They're more affluent. They want to be engaged on many levels."

Unlike previous generations, which traditionally flocked to the Sun Belt regions of Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, California and Arizona, baby boomers are more likely to look for retirement homes not far from where they spent most of their active lives. This is a trend that has developed slowly over the last decade, Jenkins said. In 1995, 78 percent of active adult communities were built in Sun Belt states, NAHB figures show. Today that percentage has dropped to less than half. 

More and more builders are getting into the active adult retirement community business as evidenced by the number of entries into NAHB's senior housing contest. Now in its 14th year, judges this year are reviewing more than 300 entries. The winners will be announced in January.
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Pulte Homes/Del Webb, Levitt and Sons Addressing Demand for Active Adult Communities in Georgia

Every year thousands of baby boomers seek retirement on the sun-laden Florida coast. Pulte/Del Webb and Levitt and Sons have built a number of communities there. Now they have set their sights on Georgia and want to make it the new Florida for active adults. Georgia, with its temperate, seasonal climate and proximity to both the beach and the mountains makes it an ideal location for retirement. 

The active adult numbers speak for themselves. According to the U.S. Census, Georgia has the fastest-growing active adult population, by percentage, of any state east of Colorado at 43 percent. Of that, a majority of the growth in Georgia is concentrated in metro Atlanta. 

In August, Levitt and Sons opened a sales office for its Seasons at Laurel Canyon in Canton, Ga. The company also plans to build a community in Gainesville called Seasons at Lake Lanier. Pulte Homes broke ground in November for its Village at Deaton Creek which will offer up to 1,300 homes on 545 acres northeast of Atlanta. 

According to the Atlanta Regional Commission's (ARC) Aging Atlanta project, metro Atlanta residents aged 60 and older will balloon from one-in-10 to one-in-five between now and 2030. That equates to 1.2 million of the ARC's projected 6-million-person metro Atlanta 2030 population. 

As this group of existing Georgia residents begins to downsize and shift housing choices, research conducted on behalf of Pulte Homes indicates that most will prefer to live in the region where they have established themselves. New residents will be joined by "half-backs," people who moved to Georgia from the northern United States via Florida, and "re-nesters," empty nesters who follow their children and grandchildren.
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2006 Hurricane Season Expected to Also Be Fierce and Destructive

Now that the 2005 Atlantic Ocean hurricane season has come to an end, officials and victims in the Americas are assessing the damages of what may have been the worst season ever. Leaders of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) laid out the year's toll in a Washington briefing November 29. 
"This hurricane season shattered records that have stood for decades - most named storms, most hurricanes and most Category 5 storms," said Conrad C. Lautenbacher, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, and NOAA administrator. "Arguably, it was the most devastating hurricane season the country has experienced in modern times." 

Unprecedented though it was, the 2005 storm season could repeat itself next year, or the year after, weather officials said. Conditions are right for more storms in years to come. Their analysis shows that Atlantic Ocean storm activity is now in what they call a multidecadal cycle in which conditions are just right in the ocean and the atmosphere to brew up monster storms. The ocean water is warmer than normal, the wind shear is low, the winds coming off West Africa are just right to set a tropical cyclone in motion. 

"Because we're 11 years into an active hurricane era," said Jerry Bell, lead meteorologist at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, "it's reasonable to expect ongoing high levels of hurricane activity for many years to come, and importantly, ongoing high levels of hurricane landfalls for the next decade and perhaps more."

The prospect that greater than average hurricane activity will pound vulnerable Atlantic and Caribbean coastal areas for years to come makes a joint international scientific project all the more urgent, according to Lautenbacher.

More than 40 nations and 25 international organizations are working to establish a Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS) as a reservoir of climatic and environmental data from all around the planet to form the basis for better understanding and predicting how Earth functions as a single system. 

"This total global coverage of weather information and service information will allow us in the future to be able to build better models and better predictions," said Lautenbacher, "and allow us to tell you more accurately what will happen and will give you much longer warning times." 

As the hurricane off-season begins, Lautenbacher said he has a scientific panel at work weighing what is needed to achieve that higher level of forecasting skill. NOAA is advising the general public in hurricane prone areas to use the off season to develop an emergency plan for what they will do when a killer storm comes calling. 

For those planning a retirement in Florida or other southern coastal areas, some thought should be given to finding alternate destinations. Repairs are still being done to homes in Florida damaged during the 2004 hurricane season. According to one report, many blue tarps over roofs can still be seen.
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Trends and Characteristics of Senior homebuyers 
Profiled in National Survey 

Nearly half of all seniors use the Internet at some point as part of the home buying process and most stay within their home state when they retire, according a research report just released detailing home purchase behaviors of the senior market. Key differences in behaviors emerged between "younger" seniors, those seniors 50 to 64 years of age, and "older" seniors, those age 65 or older in the areas of relocation, the reasons for moving, and the purchase price of a home.

Moving Forward: 50 and Beyond, sponsored by the Senior Advantage Real Estate Council, explores the buying trends of consumers age 50 or more who purchased a home within the last six months. The survey was conducted in September 2005. Senior homebuyers were defined as those 50 years of age or older, based on the AARP definition of a senior. The Senior Advantage Real Estate Council (http://www.seniorsrealestate.com) is the organization that confers the Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRESŪ) designation upon Realtors nationwide. SAREC's mission is to assist Realtors in meeting the unique real estate needs and concerns of maturing Americans. 

According to the survey, of those homebuyers utilizing the Internet, nearly two-thirds (61 percent) did so to locate a specific Realtor, 92 percent utilized the Internet to research comparable prices, and 19 percent went online to learn about specific neighborhoods to move to. 

"While the prospect of retirement is an exciting time for most seniors, many have not planned for the economic issues that arise as a result," said Dr. Nathan Booth, senior advisor to SAREC. "For seniors choosing to remain in the workforce, or even retire early, help is needed in finding the best and most prudent use of the resources available to them in real estate. It has become increasingly important to understand the changing and emerging buying and selling habits of senior homeowners." 

The survey also revealed that not only did most senior homebuyers stay within their home state (82 percent), they moved less than 100 miles from their previous home. Younger seniors tended to move farther away from their previous residences than did older seniors. Of those senior homebuyers who did move to a new state (18 percent), the most popular choices were: Florida (26 percent), Texas (11 percent), Arizona (8 percent), Nevada (7 percent), and Virginia (6 percent).
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Web Site Helps Find Medicare Drug Coverage Firms in Each State

Medicare's new prescription drug benefit program becomes effective on January 1, 2006. The current enrollment period ends May 15, 2006. Information is available now and educational sessions are taking place in communities across the country. By now seniors should have received their Medicare & You 2006 handbook which explains in detail what the prescription drug coverage program is all about and which plans are available in their area. The Medicare Web site - www.medicare.gov - has a section that will enable you to find out what plans are available in your state and the monthly fees (click here) .  For details about the new program in general, (click here) or call 1-800-Medicare. 
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New Book Discusses the Joys and Discomforts of Retirement

Many people look forward to retirement with some trepidation. While it brings the promises of leisure and freedom it also carries the risks of boredom and isolation.

When retirees rid their schedules of anything resembling the kinds of obligations that once had been imposed by work, they will experience a sometimes-uncomfortable absence of structure. In his book, The Experience of Retirement, distinguished sociologist Robert S. Weiss provides a detailed description of how some people plan their retirement, what life in retirement is like, and what makes for a fulfilling retirement. 

Weiss shows readers both the benefits of retirement and its possible costs, the relief retirees can feel once free of work's stresses and constraints, and the discomfort that can be caused by loss of the positive aspects of working life. 

The book is based on interviews with 89 retirees from professional careers who live in the Boston suburbs. It presents much of the data in the interviewees' own words. This gives the book emotional and textual immediacy, as the retirees voice their feelings of obsolescence and social isolation, and their difficulties missing the daily structure previously provided by the workplace. The interviews reveal the way in which retirement affects marriages and other familial relationships. Weiss concludes by presenting advice about retirement based on the actual experiences of retirees. 

For anyone approaching the age of retirement or already retired and looking for a more satisfying post-career life, The Experience of Retirement will be an illuminating guidebook to this phase of life. To order the book from Amazon, click here. 
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