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Will a Silver Tsunami Change the 2024 Housing Market?

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Will a Silver Tsunami Change the 2024 Housing Market?

Andy Rose

Andy brings to the table over 12 years of real estate experience including becoming a licensed Georgia broker in 2018 and a licensed Broker in Fl...

Andy brings to the table over 12 years of real estate experience including becoming a licensed Georgia broker in 2018 and a licensed Broker in Fl...

Jan 30 3 minutes read

Have you ever heard the term “Silver Tsunami” and wondered what it's all about? If so, that might be because there’s been lot of talk about it online recently. Let's dive into what it is and why it won't drastically impact the housing market.

What Does Silver Tsunami Mean?

A recent article from HousingWire calls it:

“. . . a colloquialism referring to aging Americans changing their housing arrangements to accommodate aging . . .”

The thought is that as baby boomers grow older, a significant number will start downsizing their homes. Considering how large that generation is, if these moves happened in a big wave, it would affect the housing market by causing a significant uptick in the number of larger homes for sale. That influx of homes coming onto the market would impact the balance of supply and demand and more.

The concept makes sense in theory, but will it happen? And if so, when?

Why It Won’t Have a Huge Impact on the Housing Market in 2024

Experts say, so far, a silver tsunami hasn’t happened – and it probably won't anytime soon. According to that same article from HousingWire:

“. . . the silver tsunami’s transformative potential for the U.S. housing market has not yet materialized in any meaningful way, and few expect it to anytime soon.”

Here’s just one reason why. Many baby boomers don’t want to move. Data from the AARP shows over half of the surveyed adults ages 65 and up plan to stay put and age in place in their current home rather than move (see chart below):


Clearly, not every baby boomer is planning to sell or move – and even those who do won’t do it all at once. Instead, it will be more gradual, happening slowly over time. As Mark Fleming, Chief Economist at First American, says:

“Demographics are never a tsunami. The baby boomer generation is almost two decades of births. That means they're going to take about two decades to work their way through.”

If you’re worried about a Silver Tsunami shaking up the housing market, don’t be. Any impact from baby boomers moving will be gradual over many years. Fleming sums it up best:

“Demographic trends, they don't tsunami. They trickle.”

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He made the process of easy!! Would highly recommend him and Stephanie.

Andy did a great job!! Even after the buying and selling was done, he still followed up with us. He made the process of easy!! Would highly recommend him and Stephanie.

Cash in hand above asking within 10 days!

Our home was on the market for 8 months with multiple failures to close and numerous frivolous and expensive repairs being made before we were introduced to Andy. Within 10 days after we selected Andy as our realtor we had closed with cash in hand above our asking price. Select Andy as your realtor as soon as possible because his enthusiasm, prompt actions, professionalism and expertise will likely yield a transaction experience that is as pleasant and profitable as possible.

Will work hard for his clients!

Andy did a great job for us in the sale of our house. We had relocated out-of-state and needed to just 'unload' our house. Andy was able to find us a buyer and close the sale. He is a great agent who will work hard for his clients. If you need a realtor, I can't recommend Andy enough.

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