Construction Maison

Competition for housing is soaring, affordability is weakening and the U.S. housing recovery is grinding to a crawl — and, in large part, the baby boom generation is to blame. No, they're not doing anything immoral or illegal; in fact, they're not doing anything at all, and that is precisely the problem. They're not moving. Baby boomers, the enormous group born between 1946 and 1964, are staying in their big suburban homes far longer than previous generations did at this age, and that is having repercussions down the housing supply line . If baby boomers don 't downsize out of big suburban homes , younger buyers eager to upsize, especially in this improving economy, can't find a home to buy. As the competition from young millennials heats up at the entry level, the logjam at the top of the market only heats that competition and pushes prices ever higher and out of reach. So, why don't boomers move? Some if it is because their empty nests have filled back u...

But young people may not be fully aware of the "great opportunities" that await them in this sector of the job market, said Gisi, whose company owns and operates senior living facilities across the Upper Midwest. "People realize that there will be a lot more people in old age, but they don't see the lack of workers available to care for those people, what with the birth rate collapsing in the early '70s," said Gisi. Edgewood owns and operates assisted -living and memory- care facilities in 55 communities. "There'll be a significant need for health care workers in all of our communities," he said. "The demand will continue to grow." The time frame of 2020 to 2040 will be a period of significant aging of the population, based on U.S. Census data, which will dramatically increase the demand for senior housing and health care. In that time period, the number of people who are 65 or older will increase by 46 percent. "There will...

Whitney and Luke Bowerman dream of building cottages on one of the few larger lots remaining in Olympia’s Eastside neighborhood. They want to leave the existing trees on the Fairview Street Southeast lot , and reflect the character of the neighborhood in their design. The cottages would join a new, three-bedroom house also designed to fit the area. But the city of Olympia has made it expensive to build cottages, the Bowermans said. They estimate that city fees alone will run $30,000 to $40,000 per cottage. And the cottages will be just between 500 and 800 square feet. “The impact fees for a 500-square-foot cottage are almost the same as for a single-family home,” Whitney Bowerman said. “But you can’t rent them for as much,” Luke Bowerman said. If changes aren’t made to reduce the costs, the Bowermans said, they might have to abandon the cottage idea and build a more traditional subdivision. Out of respect for the neighborhood, they don’t want to do that. Meanwhile, Olympia is poised...