This is a freelance writer written article for an obviously authoritative website called “Clever Offers” that says “Boomers” are awful people, the worst people in the history of the world – and they aren’t moving out of their homes (where would they go to?)
It’s widely shared on some social media proving that “Boomers” are the worst generation in the history of the United States – or something. The social media vitriol is feeding off of this.
2025 Data: Nearly Two-Thirds of Boomer Homeowners Have No Plans to Sell | Clever Offers™
Pew Research, the ones who invented the generation labels, are no longer using these labels (How we plan to report on generations moving forward | Pew Research Center). Media pinheads used these labels as a way of creating divisiveness and anger among groups of people – emotionally amped up readers are more susceptible to advertising messages and the media knows this.
The generation groups were thought to be useful in categorizing groups of people for marketing purposes – but some realized the variations within each group are often as large as the variations between groups. Thus, the purpose of the generation labeling fell apart.
We get articles that make little sense – “Boomers” are supposed to sell their homes and move into “retirement communities” in Florida or Arizona.
If a “boomer” sells their home, they still need to live somewhere else – so there is no net change in home ownership.
We sold the home we raised our kids in, in 2013 and downsized to a smaller home. We then moved out of that home in 2019, to a same size home as that one, but in a small town. Apparently, this is not good enough.
Our neighbors on the west are young couple who bought their first home. Our neighbors on the east are in their 30s and have 3 kids. The 3 homes across the street from us are occupied by retirees. As various homes have gone for sale in the neighborhood, new families have moved in. No surprise to this.
I have the misfortune of being born at the end of the “Baby boom” – and like many have observed, have little in common with those born earlier. Our group has sometimes been referred to as “Generation Jones” – and has more in common with Generation X, which followed the “Baby Boom”. The “Baby Boom” generation was identified as the end of WW2 until the post war increase in births peaked. This generation was set at 18 years. Other generations were then arbitrarily identified in variable groupings of 12-15 years – with emphasis on “arbitrary”. The labels and groupings mean very little.
These labels also get used in bizarre ways. “Gen Z” finance influencer Kyla Scanlon, born in 1998, insisted that Gen Z lived through 3 recessions (2001 when she was 2 1/2 years old), 2008-2010 (when she was under 12), and then counted, I believe 2020 – never mind that 25% of Gen Z had not even been born by 2010! But she insisted these 3 recessions had a big influence on Gen Z – which does not make sense.
Home Prices
Also, when you see social media commentary or “professional journalists” comparing home prices across the years, they leave out that the homes of the past are very different from the homes of today.
Hyperinflation
Home prices have gone up sharply in the past few years due to devaluation of the dollar caused by Federal government created hyperinflation. As the value of each dollar becomes less, it takes more devalued dollars to purchase a real asset – whose value mostly holds steady in terms of devalued dollars.
For example, as the value of each dollar shrinks, the cost of a real asset ten years ago that was $100, now takes 150 dollars to buy that asset. The asset retains its value in terms of the devalued currency.
Mortgage rates are a factor but today’s mortgage rates (6% as I write this) are about historical averages.
This is why – during the last 5 years – homes have become priced at inappropriate levels. Yes, mortgage rates are higher than recently but are below the longer-term average. The problem is hyperinflation caused by the government’s response to idiotic public health shutdowns of the economy.
With something like 38 trillion in debt now, the government needs inflation so that the debt can be paid off in future deflated dollars. The government’s actions are behind this – it has nothing to do with “generations”.
