High housing prices chasing some seniors

Alicia Robinson

Today’s 55-and-older crowd is a diverse one, and the future of the

senior housing market should be equally eclectic, said John Burns,

who owns an Irvine-based real estate consulting business.

“It’s going to become a very segmented industry,” Burns said.

“People want very different things.”

Burns discussed the outlook for senior housing Thursday at a

meeting of the Senior Housing Council of the Building Industry of

Southern California.

“We’re finding seniors buying in every single community,” Burns

said.

People older than 55 can’t really be lumped into one category,

Burns said. Many are continuing to work and choosing not to live in

age-restricted communities, he said.

In fact, there are few retirement communities in the Newport-Mesa

area. Several builders are now trying to design communities that

appeal to a broad range of buyers, Burns said. Older people are

looking for homes with “universal design” features, such as lever

door handles instead of doorknobs because they’re easier for people

with arthritis to turn.

“The important thing, I think, is to build all homes with these

people in mind,” he said.

Many seniors are looking for one-story homes that are convenient

to shopping and transportation, Newport Beach real estate agent

Maxine Mink said.

Most senior clients Mink has handled lately have been selling

homes and moving out of the area rather than buying, she said.

“We just don’t have a lot of houses available strictly because our

prices have gone so high,” she said.

Those who own a home have been positively affected by Orange

County’s skyrocketing real estate prices. But if they’re looking to

buy, seniors on fixed incomes may find themselves priced out of the

market.

There’s not much housing out there that’s affordable for seniors,

said Aviva Goelman, executive director of the Costa Mesa Senior

Center.

“We find that that is always a problem with seniors, to find

inexpensive, safe and nice housing, because most of them are on a

fixed income,” she said. “Costa Mesa is getting more expensive

because it’s more desirable. People who can’t afford to go to Newport

come to Costa Mesa.”

The market for assisted-living housing here is starting to

rebound, said Vicki Clark, president of Vintage Senior Management in

Newport Beach.

Clark’s business offers assisted living and Alzheimer’s care at

Avalon at Newport. A $2-million renovation of the facility’s

buildings will be complete in February.

The assisted-living industry suffered from the nation’s recent

economic slump, but in the last six months business has been stable,

she said.

“It’s been two tough years for our industry, [but] we are finding

that there is a turnaround,” Clark said.