Florida has always proven a desired destination for those entering the next chapter of life, most recently fueled by the number of Baby Boomers reaching retirement age running between 3.5 and 4 million annually. Born from 1946 to 1964, Baby Boomers represent one of the largest generational cohorts with approximately 76 million people representing the wealthiest and, therefore, the most enabled in history.

Florida’s appeal has been undeniable, as evidenced by its consistent ranking in the top-three destination states of all online home searches in the U.S., regardless of age. This isn’t surprising given our state’s weather, lack of state income tax, and attractive lifestyle options. Indeed, Boomers make up 41% of Florida’s homeowners and, as Millennials age and the first Gen Xers approach retirement, the demand for housing in Florida will accelerate.

The demographic shift presents challenges and opportunities to accommodate Boomers’ housing needs and preferences. A 2021 AARP survey found that 77% of Americans over 50 plan to stay in their homes as long as possible, signaling a growing market for home modifications, expansions, and community-based support systems to aid aging in place. This choice to stay put lies heavily in favorable tax laws, current low-rate mortgages, and the desire to remain in familiar communities.

With what is described as “The Great Wealth Transfer,” Baby Boomers are passing an estimated $70 trillion to the next generation. This transfer includes wealth in cash and existing homes bequeathed to relatives.

Logic suggests an enormous lift in real estate demand and opportunities for the state. Yet that assumption implies a consistent perspective on real estate from generation to generation for which evidence may suggest otherwise. Shaped by impressionable events such as the Great Recession and volatility in housing values, Millennials approach real estate with more caution and lower overall expectations, choosing to allocate less in primary residences while diversifying more into other forms of investments.

Also among the distinctions may be desired home size. Boomers own twice as many large homes with three or more bedrooms as Millennials. This trend indicates a potential sharp rise in available larger home inventory as Boomers choose to relocate or pass and a question as to whether the next generation will have a similar appetite to absorb. If not, values may not trend with the overall rate of appreciation seen with smaller homes.

Further, as the top second home market in the country, the shift from one generation to another may also be felt in this housing category. While Baby Boomers viewed second homes as investments for retirement, a place for multigenerational family gatherings, and avenues to legacy building, there is evidence Millennials place greater value on flexibility and the thought of experiences in different locations made possible through renting rather than owning a resort property.

By 2030, all Boomers will be at least 65, presenting Florida’s real estate market with challenges and opportunities. This evolution will influence home sales, new construction development, and community planning across the state. Sheer demographic and wealth statistics strongly suggest Florida will continue to be a winner among states as it relates to real estate.

In the end, it may depend on whether children, despite their initial protests, become more and more like their parents when they age as so often we have discovered.

Budge Huskey is chief executive officer of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty.

BY CHURCHILL DOWNS PRESS OFFICE

LOUISVILLE, KY—Dancing N Dixie rallied from the outside to edge Mo Fox Givin by a neck at the wire and won Saturday’s fifth running of the $233,418 Tepin for 3-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Mark Casse and ridden by Jose Ortiz, Dancing N Dixie completed one mile on firm turf in 1:36.04 for owners Gary Barber, Rocky Top Stables and Chris Moore’s LEMB Stables.

Previously, Dancing N Dixie finished third in three consecutive graded stakes events. She finished just a length behind winner Waskesiu in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs on March 9 then was less than a length off of winner Buchu in the Grade 2 Applachian at Keeneland on April 6. In her last race, the 3-year-old gray or roan filly was just a length-and-a-half behind Dynamic Pricing in the Grade 2 Edgewood at Churchill Downs on May 3.

Pipsy (Ire) set the pace and led the field of eight 3-year-old fillies through early fractions of :23.83 and :47.76. The closers, including Dancing N Dixie who raced in seventh down the backstretch, began to make their moves around the far turn. Mo Fox Givin found open seam in deep stretch and spurted to the front nearing the sixteenth pole but it was Dancing N Dixie, who made a sweeping wide move in the stretch and rallied home strongly for the over-the-top win at the wire.

Mo Fox Givin was second, a half-length in front of Kathynmarissa in third. Poolside With Slim (Ire), Just Better, My Brazilian Girl, Simply in Front and Pipsy completed the order of finish. Dozen Diamonds, Kodiac Wintergreen (Ire) and Voodoo Magic were scratched.

Dancing N Dixie paid $11.78 to win.

“She’s a very nice filly and got unlucky in her last two starts,” Ortiz said. “She kept finding more the more I asked her.”

With her win Saturday, Dancing N Dixie improved her career record to three wins and three thirds in 10 starts with purse earnings of $320,550. Saturday’s victory was worth $135,315.

She was is a graduate of the 2023 Ocala Breeders’ Sales June Sale where White Type Stables selected her out of the Blue River Bloodstock consignment for $35,000.

Dancing N Dixie is by Pleasant Acres Stallions’ Neolithic out of Foolhearted Woman, by Uncaptured. Dancing N Dixie, who was bred in Florida by the late Freddie Hyatt, is the only winner for Foolhearted Woman. Foolhearted Woman has an unraced 2-year-old filly, Morning Brew, by Curlin’s Honor; and a yearling colt, Freddie’s Honor, by Curlin’s Honor.

Brock Sheridan contributed to this report

Return to the June 29 issue of Wire to Wire

A man was left in critical condition by a shark attack, suffering a severe bite to his right forearm while he was fishing in Florida yesterday morning.

The man, who is in his 40s, was on a boat off Fernandina Beach, north of Jacksonville, caught the shark while fishing and tossed the fish back in the water after it bit him, Action News Jax reported.

The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit received a distress call over its emergency radio at 11:15 a.m. and when they reached the boat, they found the man had “lost a lot of blood,” according to a Facebook video the sheriff posted.

“Upon arrival, NCSO deputies found the victim with a critical injury. Acting swiftly, a deputy boarded the vessel and applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding,” NCSO said on Facebook.

“The victim was immediately airlifted to a nearby hospital. He is currently listed in critical condition but is expected to recover.”

Nassau County, Florida, is about 150 miles north of Volusia County, considered the “shark bite capital of the world,” where there were 17 bites in 2021, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.

Individuals in the state suffered 16 attacks last year, or 44% of all of the attacks in the US.