'Adult' tag confuses marketing
Jennifer Boyd Sidden, Charlotte Business Journal
A steadily growing mix of housing in the Charlotte area is being marketed to active adults.
Trouble is, the definition of "active-adult housing" depends on who's being asked.
To Paul Carty, local division president of K. Hovnanian Cos., active-adult housing is the 80-acre Four Seasons at Gold Hill community his company is developing exclusively for people over age 55 in York County.
But to his dental hygienist, a woman in her 20s, active-adult housing is where she lives. Like many young professionals, she bought a townhome in a community touted to appeal to "active adults."
"I think there's a misunderstanding ... because builders choose to market it differently," Carty says. "Some builders market it to everybody."
Pulte, for example, has built nine communities in south Charlotte that local division President Tom Bruce says are designed for active adults.
"We cut the grass, and we put products on the home that require you to do little maintenance," he says.
Those features also hold strong appeal for young professionals, which is why Carty's hygienist bought in a community pitched to active adults.
It's also part of the reason why the term may be losing favor in the residential construction industry.
"The buzzword in the industry is 'age-targeted,'" says Ed Dunnavant, director of the N.C. region for real estate analysis firm Metrostudy. "As the population ages, the definition of someone turning 55 and sitting on their rocking chair on the porch is going away. That person doesn't necessarily want to live around people all his own age."
"Carefree living" is the term Pulte has started using to market homes it previously called its "active-adult" homes.
"Intergenerational" is another new buzzword for that market, says real estate analyst Chuck Graham.
"The idea of living in a neighborhood that's entirely my age segment is generally rejected," he says.
Carty disagrees. His company has 800 to 900 prospective buyers from all over the country who've expressed interest in Four Seasons at Gold Hill, and the first 16 homeowners have moved in.
"The folks that are truly 55 and older are gravitating to this program because of the amenities package and because of the age restriction," he says.
Many buyers enjoy having a place their grandchildren can visit. But they also prefer living among people who are at a similar stage in life and have similar interests, Carty says.
New Urbanism, a community planning approach that's gaining popularity here and across the country, is encouraging intergenerational living, says real estate consultant Emma Littlejohn.
"When you start designing these New Urbanist communities, they're keeping these people in mind, and these people want to be around other people," she says.
However builders approach it, it's a potentially lucrative market they're eager to capture. A recent study by Del Webb -- a company Pulte bought a little more than a year ago largely because of its focus on housing for older adults -- shows that increasing numbers of baby boomers plan to move when they retire.
The survey found 59% of baby boomers expect to relocate for retirement, up from 31% in 1999.
"It's a huge segment of the population, so I think builders are going to study it in earnest," Dunnavant says.
The Cunnane Group has been focusing on the over-50 crowd for years, building upscale townhomes and single-family homes that require little maintenance and include features that make it easy for people to remain in a home even after they become less mobile as they age.
At Ardrey, Cunnane's 140-acre south Charlotte community, two-thirds of the 350 single-family homes will have almost all of their living space on the first floor. The development's builders also considered the number of stairs, the width of the hallways and the ease with which doorknobs can be turned.
"It's not only older people who like that kind of product," says company President John Cunnane. "A lot of people in their 40s, like myself, are thinking about aging in place, not having to move."
Builders also have begun to recognize that not everyone wants a smaller house when their children leave the nest. Many simply want a floor plan that fits their changing needs.
"They've not downsizing significantly," Cunnane says. "Yeah, sometimes, but to a smaller degree. They still need a significant amount of space. They just need the space to live differently."
Cunnane's homes at Ardrey range from 1,800 to 4,000 square feet, with prices from $265,000 to the $400,000s.
Older buyers also aren't necessarily cashing out of an expensive home, moving to a less costly one and putting the profit toward retirement.
A study by the National Association of Home Builders and Countrywide Home Loans shows one-fourth of home buyers 50 and older are paying more for the home of their golden years than they did for their previous house.
More than half of the buyers in age-restricted, age-targeted or independent-living communities are spending the same or more on those homes, the study shows. They're willing to pay more for features such as yard maintenance, community social activities and high-tech wiring.
"They're a very selective group and they demand some of the better things, and they're not afraid to spend money for those things," Dunnavant says.
Others are spending less but also buying second homes in the mountains or at the beach.
The lack of a clear definition for "active-adult housing" makes it difficult to gauge the size of the market, says Karla Knotts, owner of locally based real estate consulting company Land Matters.
If the homes are restricted to buyers over a certain age, then "active adult" is more of a legal definition. Otherwise, it's just another marketing phrase, she says.
Despite the targeting of baby-boomer buyers, Graham says the local market may not be as large as some builders and developers believe -- at least not yet.
"I think the market is thinner than we might think it is," he says. "Charlotte is a fairly young market, and there just aren't as many of that type buyer yet in town."
As a result, some builders who've been ahead of the wave of baby boomers haven't met with the success they'd hoped for. Shea Homes attempted to market a neighborhood of moderately priced ranch-style homes in Highland Creek to older adults a few years ago, but it found the buyers were mostly singles and young couples.
Some builders expect that to change soon. The first of the baby boomers just turned 55, they note.
"It's just now coming to bear," Graham says.
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