create a need for more housing to accommodate it. Interestingly, baby boomers recently ousted millennials as the largest home-buying population in the country. This means that although most analysts 10 years ago would have told you that boomers would, today, be looking to sell off their homes, far more than projected are actually buying. Although senior housing has long been a staple of the responsible investor’s portfolio, making minor adjustments to the ways in which you renovate your fix-and-flip or rehab-to-rent properties could serve you well also. For example, wider doorways, grab bars, and step-in showers all make living alone as an older adult easier and make your properties more attractive to this powerful buying demographic that has age, wisdom, and money to spend—unlike its younger counterparts. As you can see, access to accurate data about your specific markets is more important than ever before. You must carefully monitor this data and draw your own conclusions about local trends in your target markets. If you ignore emerging trends, you do so at your own peril. •
Realtor.com, these metro areas were the “hottest destinations” just a year ago, but now rent prices are pulling back the quickest in these municipal areas. For example, during 2020 and 2021, Las Vegas posted 40% gains in rents. In the past year, however, those rates have fallen 6%. Riverside and Phoenix are experiencing similar rental rate declines, and the trajectory appears unlikely to change at this point. You should note that Phoenix is also facing another complicating factor in its housing situation: Arizona’s governor recently announced that new development must show access to 100 years’ worth of water, not including groundwater . This is going to force multifamily and infill development in areas that already are cleared for development and interfere with sin- gle-family rental (SFR) developments on the outskirts of the metro area. As a result, short-term rental owners may soon be looking to sell or switch to longer-term leases to accommo- date this shift.
4. THE MEDIAN AGE OF AMERICAN ADULTS IS RISING According to Statista, the median age of adults in the U.S. has risen more than 10 years since 1970. This trend is not unique to the U.S.. The global median age has risen dramatically as well. In the U.S., the rising age of adults has, not surprisingly, been accompanied by delays in other milestones associated with aging. Americans are waiting longer to get married, have children, and buy their own homes. In the meantime, they are spending more money (and going into more debt) on education, which means you should expect renters and buyers to have more restrictive borrowing situations than you may have gotten used to during the past decade. Although fearmongers like Elon Musk (who predicted a month ago that the commercial real estate sector would “melt down fast” and that residential housing would be the next to go) may be jumping the gun, an aging population will
Tom Olson is the founder and president of the Olson Group Network , which includes Conduit Capital, Good Success, Olson Group, Olson Property Services,
Olson Construction Management Services, and Sarah Jo, LLC. He is the author of multiple popular books for entrepreneurs and investors, including “The 30-Day Good Success Journey,” “Active Turn- key: The Best Way to Buy Rentals,” and “Investors vs. Contractors.” Olson hosts The Good Success Podcast, a popular podcast for investors and entrepreneurs dedicated to achieving true lasting financial success as well as true personal and professional fulfillment.
38 | think realty magazine :: september – october 2023
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