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I have enjoyed working with Boomers relocating to Bobcageon, Prince Edward County, Kawarthas and Muskoka. They were excited about the opportunity to enjoy a new lifestyle living outside the GTA.
I thought this was a great article in the Globe and Mail's series on baby boomer for those boomers who were contemplating taking advantage of the current high values and moving outside the GTA. The housing market outside the GTA and 905 areas in most cases Bungalows are more affordable as well as property taxes and utility costs leaving Boomers more disposible income to travel or enjoy local amenaties.
Retirees scaling back their housing costs – but not their lifestyles
Globe and Mail article below
This is part of the Globe and Mail's week-long series on baby boomers and how their spending, investing, health and lifestyle decisions could affect Canada's economy in the next fifteen years. Is Canada ready for the boom?
Retirees scaling back their housing costs – but not their lifestyles
Phil and Charleen Goodwin plan to retire some time in the next five years, sell their bungalow in north Toronto and buy a cheaper home outside of the city.
The couple, both in their late 50s, work in the communications industry and don’t have the benefit of company pensions, so the real estate boom that has driven up prices of homes in Toronto has been a major boost to the Goodwins’ retirement plans.
“It makes a big difference,” Mr. Goodwin says. “If we had pensions, we would be in a different situation.”
But like many boomers who are looking to move as they head into retirement, downsizing for the Goodwins has meant scaling back on their housing costs, not their square footage.
Mr. Goodwin estimates the couple can find a similar-sized house in a smaller city in Southern Ontario for half of what they sell their house for in Toronto. Several of their neighbours have already done the same, in some cases buying even bigger homes in the suburbs. Mr. Goodwin is looking to own a home with a yard and enough parking space for the couple to buy a second car. “We’re not ready for a condo right now,” he says. “I love the outdoors too much and I’d like to stay outside.”
As boomers rewrite the notion of what housing choices look like in retirement, developers are scrambling to understand a generation that many expected would sell their suburban homes and move into urban high-rise condos and golf-course communities, or do as their parents did and eventually sell the family house in favour of a retirement home.
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