The Vero Beach housing crisis is facing a whole new and different problem in the future, as Baby Boomers retire and are forced to spend more for housing than any generation before them.
By 2030, the number of adults age 65 and older will more than double to 73 million, according to a report by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and the AARP Foundation.
Many of these retirees will need to put so much of their income toward housing — more than 30% — that they will have to cut back on other expenses like transportation, medical care, even food, the report found.
More Seniors Owe More Money on Vero Beach Housing Than Ever Before
A growing number of seniors are carrying mortgage debt into retirement, with more than 70% of younger Boomers ages 50 to 64, and 40% of those age 65 and older still owing money on their home in 2010. Even worse, they owed even more money on their loans, which is putting many older Americans in a "financially precarious" position, according to the report.
Adding to Boomers' burdens, less money is expected to come in. Over the next decade, the number of households age 65 and older living on less than $15,000 a year — below the poverty level for a two person household in 2014 — is projected to grow by nearly 40%.
The report recommends a variety of fixes for this Vero Beach housing crunch, including property tax relief for seniors, increased federal rental assistance and improved programs to help seniors "age in place" in their homes, instead of in costly institutions.
In 2011, just one-third of low income seniors who were eligible for federal rental assistance received any assistance at all.
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