No, the "Silver Tsunami" will NOT “fix” housing affordability!

[Mitch Messer]

You've heard of the Silver Tsunami, AKA "the profound social and economic changes being caused by the aging of the Baby Boom generation."

Many investors seem to believe that as Boomers sell their real estate, they'll flood the markets with so many homes that prices will finally come down.

I wouldn't bet on it!

Not only will the Silver Tsunami not “fix” housing affordability ...

... it may make housing (especially rentals) MUCH more expensive!

Because I believe there's a secret, unexploded landmine hidden in the Baby Boomer home sales data.

And that explosive charge is called "rental portfolios."

Boomers are the dominant force in the U.S. housing market, owning roughly 41% of all real estate assets nationwide. Older Americans own approximately 58% of all rental properties and 57% of all vacation and seasonal homes. [Sources below.]

So what happens when they all decide to head for the exits at roughly the same time?

What I am seeing, in markets like Tulsa (OK) and Atlanta (GA), and Detroit (MI) is landlords in their 70s and 80s starting to liquidate their rental portfolios.

A lot of these folks have been quietly landlording for the past 20-30 years, and now they just want to sit on a beach and completely forget about tenants, toilets and termites.

Also, I'm finding that many of these investors have been self-managing. Often, rents haven't been raised in years and there's a TON of deferred maintenance.

Which means that when these portfolios are eventually sold, the NEW owners will almost certainly raise rents to wring out more cash flow, which is going to test the upper limits of those local real estate markets.

Things are about to get INTERESTING ... but not necessarily CHEAPER!

____________________
Sources:

- Baby Boomers Hold Nearly Half of U.S. Real Estate [https://www.floridarealtors.org/news-media/news-articles/2025/10/baby-boomers-hold-nearly-half-us-real-estate]
- REALTOR: Baby Boomers are Driving Force in Housing Market, Study Shows [https://www.samcar.org/pdf/3.pdf]