For years I have argued that the retirement of the large baby boomer generation – a cohort that represents around 25% of Australia’s population but holds roughly half of the nation’s housing and financial assets – would eventually pose stiff headwinds for asset values, since many boomers would look to divest their asset holdings in order to fund their retirements – a process that would ultimately place downward pressure on valuations.
This view has received support from other quarters, including Savills Australia’s national head of research, Tony Crabb, who once argued that “sales volumes are going to be large” once baby boomers begun selling-off their homes, and that “you want to be the first – and not the last – one out because there are going to be more buyers at the start than the end”.
