Have your say: Will the baby-boomers sell their villas and buy apartments?

Brian Gaynor took a big picture look in his NZHerald column at the last decade and the next decade. He emphasised that baby-boomers will be retiring over the next 10 years and will look to sell their houses in the suburbs and move to apartments.

Retirees normally put their feet up, reduce their consumption and spend their declining years in relative tranquillity. The post World War II baby-boomer generation is expected to be different. This generation will be active and will travel extensively, overseas and domestically. To fund this many will sell the family home and move into apartments or retirement villages, which will be easier to maintain than a suburban home. This strategy will also release capital to fund travel. Thus the 2010s could be the decade of the apartment, with residential housing prices lagging well behind.

My view Really? I'm a little wary of predicting an exodus of the baby-boomers emptying their nests and moving to the Viaduct. There may be a few, but I suspect many will be reluctant to sell their villas for less than they believe they're worth. New Zealand's property market is slow to clear, particularly when bankers are not stressed and pushing people out. These baby boomers have large amounts of equity and relatively high incomes to support some of the the debt they have. I suspect we'll actually see many baby-boomers opting to work for longer, either through choice or because they have to to service their still large mortgages. But I doubt they'll move en masse into apartments and retirement villages. Your view? We welcome your comments and insights below.