Are Aging Baby Boomers Abandoning the Single-Family Nest?

Popular perception holds that Baby Boomers, members of the massive generation born between 1946 and 1964, have begun to alter their housing consumption as they exit their childrearing years and approach retirement. Multiple recent media accounts point to an emerging trend of Boomers "downsizing" from suburban single-family homes to urban multifamily residences as they become "empty nesters."

In the most recent edition of Housing Insights, Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group examines family and labor market changes that could have significant implications on Baby Boomers’ housing choices, and discusses recent housing market changes – such as declining home values and reduced residential mobility – that might have delayed Boomers’ shift away from the traditional single-family home.

Are Aging Baby Boomers Abandoning the Single-Family Nest? (PDF)