The caller and his wife "were going to spend their golden years splitting time between there and another new condo they put a deposit down on in Florida," he said.
Developers told him both units were complete, and it was time to go to closing.
"He worried that his retirement income wouldn't be sufficient to service both mortgages; that the units were going to depreciate in value after his purchase, and that he wouldn't be able to get a sufficiently high price for his home to allow him to upgrade," Gillen said.
The man ended up walking away from both deposits and staying put, telling Gillen that "he was looking forward to never having to shovel snow or mow the lawn again, and that this hurt more than losing the deposits."
David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, sees data supporting anecdotal evidence like this.
"National conditions for this sector have not yet turned the corner," Crowe said, and they will not improve "until employment improves and consumers are more confident of keeping their jobs."
And in the meantime?
Boomer-watchers say this wants-to-move-but-can't generation is engaging in "recession remodeling," making small and not-so-expensive changes to their houses to accommodate health or other life-changing issues.
Considerable evidence now shows that relatively few aging boomers pull up stakes altogether and move to 55-plus communities in the Sun Belt. Even the nervous boomer who contacted Gillen planned to live in Florida only part of the time.
Eighty percent of those 65 and older responding to a July telephone poll of 1,616 adults ages 45 and up conducted in July for AARP said they wanted to stay in their houses as long as possible.
