Property market challenged to create niche for vital seniors

Canada’s population is getting greyer every day, but the level of vitality and the desire for independence is just as strong as those much younger.

Between 1991 and 2031, the proportion of Canadians over 55 will have risen from one in five to almost one in three, according to figures in a Housing for Older Canadians publication by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

And, the 65-plus crowd will grow from one in nine to one in four.

“These numbers suggest substantial increases in demand for products and services targeting older segments of the population,” says the CMHC publication.

And housing is one of those areas that builders and developers have to spend more time considering — and doing something about.

Sure there are some out there who have delivered housing for seniors — Statesman Corporation, for example — which has created communities for the older set, much of it with a health care element.

And there are others who have developed housing styles, typically villa bungalows, that caught the eye of the more affluent of the 55-plus group.

But, in general, the housing industry has kind of forgotten the greyhairs and their housing wants and needs.

“We’ve thought about it, but not much more than that,” I was told recently by one builder. “Maybe it’s time we looked at it again.”

There is a huge middle market of financially comfortable seniors who would like to live in their own home for much of the year and then head to the warmer climes in the winter.

They don’t want an aging-in-place scenario, don’t want to spend megabucks on a home they will use only part of the year, and don’t want to buy something out past the suburbs.

Yeah, I know the other side of the coin isn’t bright and shiny, the housing industry has a lot of challenges in finding land that can be brought to market with a product that allows some expectation of being profitable.

And this particular market segment likely isn’t as easy to satisfy as the first-time homebuyer group. But it is a segment that deserves some housing consideration.