We’ve invited Gavin Hulcombe, Managing Director of Herron Todd White, and Greg Oddy of downsizing.com.au to talk about the size of the downsizer market in the third episode of The Downsizers Show.

Here are the highlights of the discussion:

Increase in demand for downsizing

A lot of retirees and baby boomers in their 60s are thinking about where they want to live for the years to come. The family homes they bought in their 20s or 30s are now too big for them to manage—stairs are harder to climb, big yards are more difficult to maintain, and their younger relatives need more space — so, retirees are moving out of their old family homes and are moving into more modern units and townhouses that can cater to their needs.

As the government is trying to make underutilised property more available to first time home buyers that might also encourage more retirees to downsize. And the good thing is, if baby boomers move out of their family homes, other families—even their younger relatives — can move into those homes. That has the cascading effect of bringing down the price for first time home buyers in more affordable areas.

Intergenerational housing

In some areas, people build homes with children in mind to accommodate potential parents. It’s all about designing homes that allow multiple generations to live in one property. There’s definitely a market for retirees who have moved away from their families in the past and are now coming back to the suburbs they grew up in. They want to be close to their grandkids and their children. So they don’t want to move too far away in case they’re needed to babysit the kids when the parents are away.

This is in contrast to the property culture in Queensland where the lifestyle and the climate is a lot better. Retirees are competing with the younger generation to live and own Bayside or even Inner City property. The increase in demand for retirement villages in the area only proves they want to share trendy cafés and restaurants with the younger generation.   

Prime spots for people over 50

The Patersons is a collection of nine architecturally designed “lock and leave” townhouses located in Byron Bay. The townhouses have spacious bedrooms, a private landscaped courtyard, and an attractive streetscape with external and internal pallets.

The Patersons is just 100 metres from a local general practitioner and is located nearby the new Byron Central Hospital, a significant attraction for retirees moving in. Destinations like Tallows Beach, Main Beach, and a Woolworths supermarket are only a few kilometres away. Retirees with a travel bug will also be pleased to know that the Gold Coast International Airport and the Balina Airport are less than an hour away by car.

Halcyon Glades was made to serve people who want to be active in their golden years and maintain a high quality of life after retiring.

The gated community has 5-star facilities where people can work out, like a recreation club, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, and tennis and pickleball courts. There are also facilities to indulge and learn new hobbies like a gold standard cinema, an arts and crafts room, a games room, a massage room, a library, and an outdoor fire pit.    

Other episodes:

Episode 1: Do you know what downsizers are looking for?

Episode 2: How you can help customers planning to downsize.
Episode 3: The downsizer market is larger than you think.