Builders Remain Highly Confident in 55-Plus Housing Market

There remains a strong demand for the 55-plus housing market, resulting in builder confidence remaining sky high during the fourth quarter of 2020. Despite the pandemic and builder confidence in this sector dramatically falling in the first quarter of 2020, builder confidence in this sector remains at a record high, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ 55+ Housing Market Index. Confidence is high in both the single-family 55-plus sector and the multifamily condo sector. But two of the three index components of the single-family HMI decreased last quarter: present sales dropped one point and expected sales for the next six months dropped seven points.

The 55+ multifamily condo HMI fell four points to 63 in the fourth quarter (Figure 2). All three index components decreased: present sales fell four points to 66, expected sales for the next six months decreased three points to 64 and traffic of prospective buyers dropped six points to 57.

NAHB also produces four indices measuring supply and demand in the 55+ multifamily rental markets. All four components fell in the fourth quarter: present production decreased six points to 56, expected future production dropped 16 points to 45, present demand for existing units fell 13 points to 63 and future expected demand decreased six points to 65.

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