Earlier this year, a Statistics Canada brief revealed that in 2018, there were 106 seniors aged 65 and older for every 100 children under the age of 15. Comparatively speaking, the population of children was twice that of seniors in 1986.
On the one hand, the increasing number of seniors could generate new demand for senior-focused housing. Seniors today are healthier and wealthier than their older counterparts. Many seniors are asset rich and wonder whether they should continue to own or switch to renting. Changes in the economy, cultural shifts, and spikes in housing markets have all contributed to millennials staying with their parents longer than similar-aged cohorts in the past.
Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey from 2007 revealed that 80-plus per cent of those between the ages of 55 and 74 owned their homes. For those who were 75 years and over, three out of four lived in owned dwellings. Furthermore, almost 80 per cent of those over the age of 55 lived in the same house for more than five years. At least 62 per cent had lived in the same dwelling for over 10 years.
Older households in the U.S. are holding on to a large inventory of dwellings that is not available for purchase by younger cohorts. Eventually, American baby boomers will vacate their current homes to live in assisted housing. However, this may still be a decade or so away. Canadian demographics show similar trends.
We should question the new living options for seniors. $6-7000 a month for a $1500 apartment, meals that may cost $10 day to prepare, bell pulls for emerg. help, etc.These do not seem to add up! It can take just 10 yrs. to run thru savings which took a lifetime to appreciate. .
Wow! Guess they prepared for retirement huh!?