It’s a Buyers´ Market For Senior Housing – Here’s Why

Living in a community specifically designed for seniors is a viable and sometimes necessary option for senior citizens and their families. The costs of such arrangements can depend on many factors, among them your desired location, the required care for the senior, and the extracurricular activities the community offers.

While expecting the number of senior citizens to double in the coming years, developers have jumped the gun and created much more housing facilities than what is necessary. This has resulted in an imbalance between the prices and the demands of the market, but it’s only for a short window of time. Developers are aiming to tie over their expenses until the market picks up the way they predicted, but senior living housing prices are starting to plummet. If you do your research, you might be able to snag some of these deals.

The Expense of Senior Housing

According to the Cost of Car Survey, ^[1] across the nation, the average cost of a basic one bedroom living arrangement has been measured as $3,628 per month since 2016, which is 2% more than what it was before. The difference between the cost of a semi-private and a private room has been measured to be around $4000, which is 5% more than it was just 5 years ago, based on the same survey. This indicates that independent senior living may end up being a luxury in the future. However, the over-development and re-purposing of buildings aimed at seniors combined with a stagnant customer base has created a real buyers´ market.

What They Keep Under Wraps

In the next 20 years, the National Center for Assisted Living ^[2] expects that the number of seniors who will live in the assisted living housing will at least double from the one million that it is today. Wanting to stay ahead of the market, developers are already starting building projects. But in the meantime, this creates a lot of readily available housing that needs to be maintained and filled. Developers have started to offer various incentives and good deals to buyers, often at a far lower rate than was intended. Places like California or Arizona have already seen results of this affordable housing situation with 20% more seniors moving in during the last 2 years. Additionally, less traditional or exotic locations such as Alaska or Thailand are also worth looking into when considering senior living places because they offer retirement with almost no taxation on whatever savings you have.

How to Spot Good Senior Housing Deals

Some of this information may be news to you because developers want to minimize losses until the market bounces back. That’s why they don´t advertise much or at all. If you are interested, look through sponsored listing for discounts that might interest you.

This period in which supply far exceeds the demand and creates a buyers´ market is short-lived and must be taken advantage of as soon as possible. Research your desired area thoroughly to see what is on offer, know your budget, act at the right time, and in the long run, you might end up with savings that can be spent better elsewhere.

[1] Genworth, 2016 Annual Cost of Care Study

[2] National Center for Assisted Living, Communities