The price elasticity of senior housing demand: is it a necessity or a luxury?

Bus Econ. 2022;57(4):204-216. doi: 10.1057/s11369-022-00282-3. Epub 2022 Oct 21.

Abstract

Senior housing properties provide tailored lifestyle, housing, and personal care services to aging adults. Having emerged from needs-based settings, senior housing is typically viewed as a necessity. As a result, demand estimates often rely on assumed utilization rates. We use monthly data beginning in 2017 to model occupied senior housing units as a function of price and a time trend. Our two-stage least squares approach provides an estimate of senior housing's price elasticity of demand. Results show elasticity coefficients of greater than one, implying senior housing market is more of a luxury than a necessity.

Keywords: Elasticity; Housing; Retirement; Senior.