Baby boomers aren't moving down to smaller homes and they aren't moving out to retirement homes, likely because their current homes are sufficient or they have the option to move into another home they own.

Even before the National Association of Realtors' "2005 National Association of Realtors Profile of Second-Home Buyers" revealed the second home market accounts for 38 percent of the existing housing stock and 36 percent of all homes purchased in 2004, Parsippany, NJ-based ERA Real Estate found that nearly two thirds of baby boomers own two or more homes.

Conducted by Stamford, CT-based market research firm InsightExpress, the survey queried online more than 1,500 consumers, age 50 and older on their opinions toward real estate and the home buying and selling process.

The survey's results indicate that boomers' penchant for second homes gives them retirement housing options that were likely less available to previous generations.

The survey found:

• Nine out of 10 boomers have owned at least one home in their lifetime, while nearly two-thirds have owned two or more homes.

• Most boomers, 53 percent, have lived in their current residence for 10 or more years, at least twice as long as the 5 to 7 years younger home owners stay put.

• Most boomers, 57 percent, prefer to stay within 50 miles of their family during their next move, while only 16 percent would consider moving 1,000 miles or more.

• Only 8 percent of those considering a move in the next five years indicated that they might consider purchasing a home in an active adult community.

• The average senior lives in a house with three or more bedrooms and two or more baths, but only 11 percent felt their current home is too big, while 25 percent of respondents thought their home was too small. Satisfaction with the size of their current home indicates there's less chance a boomer will move down to a smaller home.

• Should they move, they likely would move to a larger home because more than 61 percent consider purchasing a single-family home but most don't think their current home is too big.

• Respondents cited better home or living conditions as the second most popular reason for buying a new residence.

"These survey results show that as more and more baby boomers turn 50, it is becoming harder to define the increasingly diverse mature consumer," said Brenda W. Casserly, president and COO, ERA Franchise Systems, Inc.

It was once believed that the typical aging home owner would eventually move to an active adult community and downsize, but more and more surveys show otherwise.

Baby boomers, Americans born between 1946 and 1964 and are now aged 40 to 58, represent a population bulge of 75 million people who are redefining the second half of life. AARP estimates that 70 percent of those 45 and older plan to continue working in their "retirement" years and AARP's "Fixing To Stay Put" study likewise says 71 percent of Americans aged 45 and over plan to stay in their own homes when they retire.

Published: March 16, 2005

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A journalist for 35-years, Broderick Perkins parlayed an old-school daily newspaper career into a digital news service offering editorial content and consulting services. Perkins' San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group includes the flagship news site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate, personal finance and consumer journalism, and a backshop, the Deadline Newsroom.