A cul-de-sac in Sharon. Experts say many seniors prefer to stay in place, instead of selling their homes to a new generation, in part because of how hard such a move can be. iStock photo

As a majority of Baby Boomers claim that they will live in their house for the rest of their lives.

But scratch the surface of that common statistic, and you’ll find a wealth of constraints that shape local Baby Boomers’ housing choices.

According to a July survey by Clever Real Estate, 61 percent of those born between 1946 and 1964 believe that they will never sell their home in their lifetime. Meanwhile, only 10 percent of survey respondents plan to put their homes on the market in the next five years, down from 15 percent in 2024.

Mobility rates have fallen across age groups but there are varying reasons why Boomers might decide to stay in their homes, said Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies senior research associate Samara Scheckler, including simply enjoying the place which they currently live.

“It’s familiar, it’s comfortable, it’s full of memories,” she said. “They have maybe additional space in it that they use for hobbies or for visiting family, or maybe they even have caregivers who stay the night there, and they just might be reluctant to give that space up.”

Few Homes that Fit Needs

Even if a Baby Boomer homeowner was eager to downsize, what’s available in their communities can limit their ability to move.

“A lot of people who live in suburban or exurban or rural places, there’s relatively few condos or accessible apartments that might be attractive to them, and because these units are in short supply, they’re relatively more expensive,” Scheckler said. “We’ve heard anecdotes about older adults who actually couldn’t afford to purchase a condo in their community, even after they sold their home, because the higher units are in such high demand.”

There are already 59 percent fewer single-family and condominium homes on the market as in 2019, according to Massachusetts Association of Realtors data. And many of the homes that are available aren’t a good fit for aging in place.

According Census Bureau data compiled by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, nearly 1 in 3 of homes in Massachusetts was built prior to 1939.

That means many aren’t designed for people with limited mobility, said Massachusetts Association of Realtors 2025 President Sarah Gustaffson, with bedrooms and living areas typically on separate floors.

“At least in the Worcester County market, many of the homes that are one-level were ranches that were built in the post-war, ’50s, ’60s era,” she said. “They’re looking for somewhat –oftentimes, I’ve seen ‘similar size, maybe smaller’ – but that one-level opportunity, which, again in this area, that’s not customary construction that we’ve seen.”

The idea of downsizing can also be opposite to the social needs of older generations who still might want to entertain or enjoy a hobby, she added.

Emotional Toll Significant

And it’s not like moving is an easy task. The idea of packing up and moving can be an overwhelming task for older generations, Gustaffson said.

“I believe the median age for a second move is 61 right now,” she said. “That being said, oftentimes, these people have been in these homes for decades. So, the idea of having to clean everything out, pack everything up can also cause people to be hesitant in making that decision.”

Moving takes a physical and mental toll, too, said Scheckler.

“I think that’s important to even just start thinking about how taxing it is to literally downsize, both physically taxing and emotionally difficult,” she said. “Folks might need support actually making that transition, literally sorting the things and literally moving the things that they’ve accumulated over years, that in and of itself can be difficult.”

Money a Bigger Hurdle Today

Financing a move is harder today than in years past, experts said. The traditional perception of the equity-rich older homeowner doesn’t always apply.

More than 40 percent of homeowners between ages 65 and 79 had a mortgage in 2022 compared to 24 percent in 1989, Scheckler said, and only about 30 percent of older movers were able to buy their new home outright in 2023.

“It’s much more common for older adults to carry a mortgage in late life,” she said. “That makes a move more expensive for them. The rates of people carrying debt of housing down into late life have shot up in recent years, and the median debt amount has increased significantly. People are just carrying a lot more debt, which, of course, limits the equity that they have available to make a move. A lot of borrowers who want to make moves may need take out a new mortgage to do that.”

With so many older homeowners carrying more debt, their home equity can be extremely valuable to them.

“It’s also worth noting that for a lot of owners, home equity is like a special kind of asset,” Scheckler said. “It’s like an economic safety net almost for them that they want to preserve in case of an emergency.”

Sam Lattof

Could ADUs Offer Hope?

Whether looking to downsize or looking to get into a new home, the Baby Boomer generation has unique needs. Some researchers and industry leaders are holding out hope that the statewide legalization of accessory dwelling unit construction this year can help.

“That was a really big thing, because now it allows for some more latitude with people that were concerned about selling their larger home, because where were they going to go, the maintenance, etc,” MAR’s Gustafsson said. “To potentially live in an accessory dwelling unit, potentially on the property of a friend – it could be with family members but still have that community connection where they would go into a smaller, more accessible unit.”

ADUs are typically single-level homes, making them much friendlier to the mobility challenges that can come with aging.

“They want a home that is accessible and sometimes folks are even thinking about possible caregiving alternatives,” Scheckler said. “Is there a [spare] bedroom where someone can stay or, you know, an accessory dwelling unit or something like that?”

Beyond wanting to stay in their community because it might be what they are familiar with and where their family is located, Boomer movers usually seek out a limited subset of communities when downsizing, she said.

“They want to be in communities with services,” Scheckler said. “They want have access to the resources they need, just like everyone else, but their resources that they need may be more in line with accessible transportation and things that some other families might be accessing more independently and less reliant on the public infrastructure. So, thinking about communities and neighborhood infrastructure is really important a lot of older folks.”