Stats on Senior Homebuyers

The Market Enhancement Group recently interpreted the latest data found in the US Census, and found that 5 million senior Americans plan to sell or buy a home within the next 3 years. 

Home ownership for people 65 and over is high, higher than any other age group.

Many plan to pay with cash from equity built in long-owned homes, and therefore won't need preapproval from a lender. Irrelevant to these senior buyers: worry about credit scores and down payment size.

More real estate findings:

• 31% of homeowners own their homes free and clear
• 68% of seniors own their homes free and clear, the rest will do so within the next 6 years
• 15% of senior homeowners plan to sell their home in the next 3 years to buy another home
• 94% of these plan to pay cash for their next home
• Only 1.6% of retirees are moving out of state after they sell their homes
• Florida used to be the main attraction with 1 in 4 retirees heading there, but that has dropped to 1 in 7 between 2005 and 2010. 
• Seniors are staying put: many are staying near to where they worked, only moving an hour or two outside the city, leaving high priced inter urban areas for less expensive property and taxes