| Right now retirement communities are "hot." | | | | communities. It is interesting to note that people are |
| When there is a lot of interest in a subject, trying to | | | | searching for this type of housing in Florida more than |
| predict the trends becomes important also. No one | | | | any other state. Remember, all of this is on my |
| knows exactly what will happen in the future, | | | | website and I do not know if it would be the same |
| however. It is fun to make predictions. Predictions | | | | on others, although I think it would. |
| should be more than wild guesses or pure intuition. | | | | You would be surprised to know that while people |
| Real estate trends can be based on demographics | | | | search for housing considered affordable, it seems a |
| and money flow or something as simple as watching | | | | contradiction that they search for the highest quality |
| the traffic flow on my website about retirement | | | | ones (I can tell this by what communities they look |
| communities for over age 55. | | | | at). This tells me that most people who consider |
| My website has categories for the areas of the | | | | mobile homes, which are more affordable, generally, |
| United States. How much traffic flows to those | | | | than site-built homes, still want the better quality |
| states tells me something. The traffic can, in turn, be | | | | ones, and are looking really for good value. Of |
| affected by something like the weather or a news | | | | course, there are other factors that I won't go into |
| story, so it changes minutely and temporarily. But | | | | here, that bring me to some of these conclusions. |
| over time, certain trends are strong. For instance, the | | | | My luxury retirement community category is |
| state that consistently gets the most traffic is Florida. | | | | searched more than my affordable retirement |
| This tells me that a lot of people are interested in | | | | communities category which I find interesting. What |
| retiring to Florida and that is a consistent trend that | | | | does that mean. Are people searching for something |
| has not changed over many years. It appears right | | | | unique. Despite what you read about the popularity |
| now that this will continue to be so, although it could | | | | of university towns, not too many people go to the |
| change at any time. | | | | category about communities near universities. This is |
| Recently, I have noticed a large increase of traffic to | | | | probably because it is a small niche. |
| Southern California. Does this mean some people are | | | | So those are some trends that I see. I see the |
| opting out of Florida and considering California. | | | | active adult communities being more popular now and |
| Possibly, but I need to watch this trend over time | | | | in the next few years, with their attractive offerings |
| because it may just be a temporary thing. The | | | | that appeal to a baby-boomer such as fitness rooms, |
| Midwest has been coming on strong more recently. | | | | golf courses, pools, and clubhouses. I see assisted |
| What does this mean. It may mean more people are | | | | living or apartments becoming more popular in |
| reaching retirement age in the midwest or it may | | | | another ten years as the population ages, and I see |
| mean more retirement communities are being built | | | | Florida as the leading destination. These could change |
| there, increasing the interest. It needs further | | | | any time and new trends may evolve. Of course, |
| exploration. | | | | there are many more general observations that I do |
| One category that is very strong is manufactured | | | | not have room for here. I will continue to watch the |
| homes. What state are people searching in for these | | | | trends, and you can, too, on my website. |