Another wave of baby boomer wealth is expected to flood the property market as more of Australia’s wealthiest generation welcomes retirement – but it will have huge implications for residents of the new places they’re expected to retire in.
With the ABS estimating 710,000 Australians will retire in the next five years, property expert John McGrath has predicted all baby boomers accessing their super will prompt “new choices,” with their deep pockets having “the power to move markets”.
Many baby boomers are sitting on substantial amounts of home equity that can fund new purchases, with Sydney house prices increasing 50-fold since 1975, according to analysis by Money.com.au.
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Robyn and Albert Watts happily retired in Wentworth Point. Picture: Nikki Short
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This money could be spent in locations not normally associated with retiring downsizers.
Data from comparison group Finder revealed NSW country retreats and coastal towns within reach of Sydney could be the next retirement hotspots.
The mid-coast town of Tuncurry, near Forster, was forecast to be the most popular downsizer hotspot in NSW – and it had already surged in downsizing activity.
Tea Gardens, Hawks Nest, Bowral, Forster and Wollongong East rounded out the top five of new retirement hotspots.
Finder analysed ABS data on the percentage of people in each suburb aged 65 or older and combined this with the percentage of people who lived at another address one year ago to estimate the popularity of a suburb among downsizers.
“Stronger activity among baby boomers is having an impact on property values,” John McGrath said in McGrath’s 2025 Report.
Tuncurry pegged to be the next retirement hotspot.
“Many will make a sea-change, taking generous budgets to comparatively affordable coastal towns, with a steady price uplift inevitable in the most popular locations,” he said.
Demographer Simon Kuestenmacher noted these spots could suffer the “curse of paradise”.
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“The issue is they become constrained physically, people moving in, drive up house prices massively, pressures out low income earners and renters,” the demographer added.
“They move in with the idea to consume all those wonderful services, people making their coffee, making their beds but then there are huge skills shortages … those low-income earners think why would I live here and pay this much for a rental when I can move somewhere else,” he said.
“What we definitely see is the old property joke of ‘he hadn’t even moved to Queensland yet,’ that continues and is still pretty popular that kind of lifestyle, they will still be hotspots of the future,” Mr Kuestenmacher said.
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Robyn and Albert Watts selling their unit to downsize again. Picture: Nikki Short
Finder revealed Queensland to have seven of the most popular downsizer suburbs in the country with Main Beach, Bribie Island, Southern Moreton Bay Islands and Caloundra pegged to be popular retiree spots, as well as Victorian seaside towns of Portarlington and Point Lonsdale / Queenscliff.
Mr Kuestenmacher noted that Boomers had a mindset of “working hard,” who would “slide into retirement,” cutting down on work slowly, staying in their localities longer or even wanting to be “carried out of their homes.”
Retirees Robyn and Albert Watts have downsized twice from The Hills District to enjoy retirement in their Wentworth Point apartment, which they are now selling to downsize again.
“We have no real regrets … here we have restaurants underneath which we didn’t have at all, there’s a great community here too and we made friends very quickly because people are very friendly,” Ms Watts said.
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View from the Wentworth Point apartment now for sale.
There was a variety of retirees, young couples and families in the suburb, which Ms Watts liked that there was a mix of residents unlike like a retirement village.
“It’s also more convenient and better positioned here, we have things within walking distance or an easier drive and public transport,” she said.
She spent her time organising community barbecues, enjoying senior gym classes in their complex and attending the probus club with Ms Watts saying, “there is always something on.”
Their agent Ania Aquino at McGrath Strathfield noted that a large portion of the residents in Wentworth Point were downsizers from the Hills district selling homes around the $2m-$3m mark and downsizing to a circa $1m apartment.
Ms Watts said there was “always something on,” in Wentworth Point. Picture: Nikki Short
“Downsizers in fact are the ones that pick up the units with the water views, their money can go far here, the waterfront apartments tend to be sized bigger, and for someone downsizing its pretty good value,” she said.
“The lifestyle that they have bought into in this area is attractive, with the seniors activities and the gym classes included in the strata but there’s still a fusion of people with a lot of young couples in the area too.”
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