NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS ARE ALREADY A DISTANT MEMORY FOR SOME, BUT FOR THOSE LOOKING TO CHANGE WHERE THEY LIVE, THE PROCESS MAY BE JUST STARTING. A SIGNIFICANT GROUP OF THOSE LOOKING TO MOVE IN 2015 ARE SEEKING TO DOWNSIZE IN A TREND WHICH IS GAINING MOMENTUM AROUND AUSTRALIA.
Research released in 2014 by Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) showed that approximately half of the respondents to their survey of over fifty year olds who had moved, had downsized (49.6%). Using that as the basis, they estimated that almost one-quarter of a million people, or 9 percent of older Australians aged 50-and-over, had downsized.
The majority downsized locally, with twenty-two percent staying in the same post code and a further forty-eight percent staying in the same region. Relocation within the same postcode was found to increase with age as the impact of work related moves reduced. The question underlying the statistics is would more people have stayed within their post code area if there were appropriate accommodation options for them?
Getting diverse living options is a priority for government planners but this can be challenging in some areas. Over ninety percent of those that downsized had lived in a traditional detached house with 42.5% moving into to a smaller detached house. Overall most downsizers (69.1%) preferred to live in a single story dwelling with a clear shift away from two storey houses. Unsurprisingly, the biggest change was in the number of bedrooms, with the bulk (61.9%) moving from a home with at least four bedrooms into a two bedroom (47.1%) or three bedroom (41.8%) dwelling. One in ten people moved into a one bedroom dwelling, however that figure may be influenced by the twenty-one percent of survey respondents that moved into a retirement village or equivalent.
Whilst adult children leaving home is often believed to the trigger for downsizing, less than one in five people (17.2%) listed that as their primary motivation. Lifestyle preference was the most common reason (37.9%) followed by garden maintenance (26.6%). Relationship breakdown or death of a partner was the trigger for twenty-two percent of downsizers. Financial gain, including the potential for capital gains, was the motivator for one-in-ten respondents.
Whatever their reason for moving, more than half of downsizers did not move again, so if you are looking for a new lifestyle, be clear about where and how you want to live so you can make a lasting choice.