Empty Nesters Hold a Tight Grip on the DC Area's Largest Homes, Per Report

• April 2nd

by UrbanTurf Staff

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A new report provides insight into the growing housing mismatch playing out around the country. 

Nationally, empty-nest baby boomers own 28% of large homes (defined as three-plus bedrooms), according to a new report from Redfin, while millennials with children own just 16% — a gap that encapsulates the generational imbalance at the heart of today's inventory crunch.

The DC area falls roughly in line with those national trends, though slightly less pronounced than some other major cities. In the region, boomers own 24% of the area's large homes, compared to 16% owned by millennials with kids — a ratio that may feel all too familiar to any growing family that's spent weekends losing bidding wars in Bethesda or Silver Spring. 

Why aren't more of those homes hitting the market? Nearly three in five baby-boomer homeowners have no mortgage at all, according to Redfin, giving them little financial pressure to sell. The lifestyle calculus matters too: longtime residents are reluctant to leave neighborhoods where they've built decades of community ties. Meanwhile, the supply of move-in-ready, low-maintenance smaller homes that boomers would consider — think one-story townhouses with minimal yard work — remains painfully thin across the DC area, creating a logjam that traps both generations in place.

To read the full report, click here. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/empty_nesters_hold_a_tight_grip_on_the_dc_areas_largest_homes_per_report/24484.