The segment of the housing industry that caters to those home buyers and renters who are 55+ years old saw gradual but steady improvement in 2011. This trend is expected to continue throughout 2012 as more baby boomers turn 55 and seek new homes and communities that offer the lifestyle they desire. However, since the conditions of the current overall housing market are limiting their ability to sell their existing homes, this market is not recovering as quickly as might have been expected.
Like the overall single-family housing market, the 55+ housing segment is facing a slow but steady recovery. "NAHB is projecting that the number of housing starts in 55+ communities will increase 18 percent to 53,200 units in 2012, and another 25 percent, to 66,600 in 2013," said Paul Emrath, NAHB's vice president of survey and housing policy research.
Emrath said the multifamily segment of the 55+ housing market is doing particularly well, with an estimated 57% increase to 21,300 starts in 2011, and further increases in the forecast of 25,400 new apartments in 2012 and 29,100 in 2013.
According to NAHB, the 55+ housing market should continue to gradually improve over the next few years. "Nevertheless, this market remains fragile as many people in this sector who would like to purchase a new home are having difficulties selling their existing homes," noted Emrath. "The issues constraining their ability to sell are the same issues restraining the overall single-family housing market - low appraisals, a large supply of foreclosures and tighter mortgage lending criteria."
Knowing their customer base is important for builders' success in the current economic climate. "The 55+ builders who are doing well in these challenging times are innovative and creative and are in touch with their customer base," said W. Don Whyte, president of Kennecott Land in South Jordan, Utah, and incoming chairman of NAHB's 50+ Housing Council. "Successful builders also continually conduct market research on buyer's preferences and needs."
"Meeting the needs of buyers in the 55+ market involves having a more focused and targeted strategy on how to design, build and market new homes," said Whyte. "Successful builders and developers in the current market will encompass this approach." BD+C
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Wisconsin becomes the first state to require BIM on public projects
As of July 1, the Wisconsin Division of State Facilities will require all state projects with a total budget of $5 million or more and all new construction with a budget of $2.5 million or more to have their designs begin with a Building Information Model. The new guidelines and standards require A/E services in a design-bid-build project delivery format to use BIM and 3D software from initial ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Opening night close for Kent State performing arts center
The curtain opens on the Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center at Kent State University in early 2010, giving the New Philadelphia, Ohio, school a 1,100-seat multipurpose theater. The team of Legat & Kingscott of Columbus, Ohio, and Schorr Architects of Dublin, Ohio, designed the 50,000-sf facility with a curving metal and glass façade to create a sense of movement and activity.
| Aug 11, 2010
Residence hall designed specifically for freshman
Hardin Construction Company's Austin, Texas, office is serving as GC for the $50 million freshman housing complex at the University of Houston. Designed by HADP Architecture, Austin, the seven-story, 300,000-sf facility will be located on the university's central campus and have 1,172 beds, residential advisor offices, a social lounge, a computer lab, multipurpose rooms, a fitness center, and a...
| Aug 11, 2010
News Briefs: GBCI begins testing for new LEED professional credentials... Architects rank durability over 'green' in product attributes... ABI falls slightly in April, but shows market improvement
News Briefs: GBCI begins testing for new LEED professional credentials... Architects rank durability over 'green' in product attributes... ABI falls slightly in April, but shows market improvement
| Aug 11, 2010
Luxury Hotel required faceted design
Goettsch Partners, Chicago, designed a new five-star, 214-room hotel for the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The design-build project, with Saudi Oger Ltd. as contractor and Rayadah Investment Co. as developer, has a three-story podium supporting a 17-story glass tower with a nine-story opening that allows light to penetrate the mass of the building.
| Aug 11, 2010
Three Schools checking into L.A.'s Ambassador Hotel site
Pasadena-based Gonzalez Goodale Architects is designing three new schools for Los Angeles Unified School District's Central Wilshire District. The $400 million campus, located on the site of the former Ambassador Hotel, will house a K-5 elementary school, a middle school, a high school, a shared recreation facility (including soccer field, 25-meter swimming pool, two gymnasiums), and a new publ...
| Aug 11, 2010
New Jersey's high-tech landscaping facility
Designed to enhance the use of science and technology in Bergen County Special Services' landscaping programs, the new single-story facility at the technical school's Paramus campus will have 7,950 sf of classroom space, a 1,000-sf greenhouse (able to replicate different environments, such as rainforest, desert, forest, and tundra), and 5,000 sf of outside landscaping and gardening space.
| Aug 11, 2010
U.S. firm designing massive Taiwan project
MulvannyG2 Architecture is designing one of Taipei, Taiwan's largest urban redevelopment projects. The Bellevue, Wash., firm is working with developer The Global Team Group to create Aquapearl, a mixed-use complex that's part of the Taipei government's "Good Looking Taipei 2010" initiative to spur redevelopment of the city's Songjian District.
