The risk of depending on properties for retirement
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Retirees are unlikely to renovate their homes and this in turn reduces the selling price
ILLUSTRATION: HANNAH AGOSTA/NYTIMES
Martha C. White
Home ownership has historically been the most common way for families to grow wealth and pass it on. This can be a risky strategy, new research shows.
A paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that older home owners, particularly those aged 70 and up, earn lower prices when they sell than their younger counterparts. The gap increases with age; an average 80-year-old seller would likely get paid 5 per cent less than a 45-year-old, all other factors being equal.
