Dive Brief:

• Baby boomers haven’t bought as much property in resort and retirement communities as builders and realtors expected them to, the new PricewaterhouseCoopers Emerging Trends in Real Estate report revealed Wednesday.

• The survey of hundreds of real estate professionals revealed that instead of moving to age-restricted golf course and leisure communities, many among the 77 million-member generation have opted to trade in their suburban family homes and live their golden years downtown.

• The migration of 65- to 73-year-olds to city centers has occurred as older employees keep their jobs longer and aging Americans remain healthy, the study noted. The results are consistent with the data that tenants in multifamily communities, a big chunk of urban living, span generations—and are not just millennials.

Dive Insight:

The study’s authors advised builders and realtors: “With all the deserved attention being lavished on millennials, let’s not ignore the boomers. They will be influencing the market both as workers and retirees for a couple of decades to come. In fact, it is the combined impact of the millennials and the boomers—all 160 million people in the two cohorts—that is making demography such a hugely powerful driving trend right now.”