Older Adults Increasingly Face Housing Affordability Challenges

The overall rates mask significant differences between homeowners and renters. About a quarter of all older adult homeowners are cost burdened, including 12 percent with severe burdens. Older adult homeowners who are still paying off their mortgages face higher rates of burden at 43 percent. Meanwhile, a full 54 percent of older adult renters are cost burdened, with 30 percent experiencing severe cost burden.

As a result of both income and rent changes in older age, severe housing cost burdens are more common among those in the oldest age group. While older adults generally have lower incomes than those of working age, incomes also continue to decline with age. According to data in the American Community Survey (ACS), while the median income in 2016 for homeowners aged 65-79 was $53,400, it was only $35,000 for those aged 80 and over. However, monthly housing costs for older homeowners also fell with age in 2016, decreasing from $726 for those 65-79 to $509 for those 80 and over, likely due to the higher rates of older owners who have paid off their mortgages. In contrast, renters tend to see their cost rise as they age. The median income for renters aged 65-79 was $23,600 in 2016, falling to $21,500 for those age 80 and over. Renters age 80 and over had median rents of $850, paying $50 more each month than those aged 65-79...

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RSK: As humanity seems to extend the length of living, this will become a serious problem in less than a decade.