Some Buyers Snap Up Retirement Homes Early.
Some Buyers Snap Up Retirement Homes Early. Image courtesy of Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
With home values falling over the past few years, some buyers are seeing a great opportunity to buy their retirement home now instead of waiting until they retire years later.
For example, in one of the largest retirement areas in the nation — Century Village in Boca Raton, Fla. — the average age of a new home buyer has dropped from the mid-70s to the low 60s in the last year. Charlie Rocque, 56, may not be ready for retirement but he already bought his retirement apartment there for $20,000 (though it was valued at around $75,000).
“People are looking at this in terms of their long term future,” Ben Schachter with Century Village Real Estate Inc. told CNBC. “They recognize that with the time value of money they are better off investing now, taking advantage of 20, 40, $60,000 price points, because if they look back just a half a decade ago, prices were 3-4 times what they are now. They’re looking at the market as it increases, as the economy is strengthening, and they want to buy now while it’s the best opportunity to do so.”
Younger investors also may even rent out the property until they need it years later for their own retirement.
Source: “Younger Buyers Jumping Into Retirement Real Estate,” CNBC (March 25, 2013)
