Why are They Not Downsizing?

According to Trulia nearly 60% of Denver senior households (aged 65+) that own a house has no younger generations living with them and on average have 2 extra bedrooms in their home. Trulia calls these households “downsizable”. Why are they not downsizing then? One reason is 19% of them are still working, up from 16% in 2006. Second, builders haven’t been building affordable new homes to downsize into. Third, they don’t want to leave their communities and neighborhoods they have lived in for decades. Fourth, senior households are not moving into multi-unit communities until nearly age 80, versus age 75 in 2006.

But, Trulia also discovered that 16% of senior households still have children or grandchildren residing with them.