This is an increasing trend that has many effects on the overall market – both good and bad. From cnbc.com:
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/08/under-one-roof-multigenerational-housing-big-for-builders.html
An excerpt:
That’s exactly how it works for Jennifer Michaels and her mom.
“Sometimes, it’s a quick little, ‘Hey, honey how are you?’ and other times we’ll play a board game together out here, but I literally have gone three days without seeing her,” said Michaels.
Economics certainly plays into the multigenerational mindset, but there may be a cultural shift as well.
“The baby boomers were just very unique; they are really the only generation in history that would move out of the house as soon as they go out of high school or college,” said Burns.
Lucy Abbott likes the security in knowing that if she has a problem, help is just a hallway away, but that is more of an added benefit than a driver of her living situation.
I don’t buy it for a second. Boomers are greedy and cheap and millennials are lazy and idealistic. Combine the two and the grandkids can attend a good school.
The combo I’ve seen more prevalent in SD is where young people stay living with their parents hoping/trying to take over the house as mom + dad get older.
I will concede that having grandma/grandpa around does help when the kids need to be shuttled to and from school/sports/events. Especially if both parents are working. However once we get those self driving cars the added benefit might be negated.
It’s a good way to transfer wealth – kids get to use grandma’s money to buy a house, in exchange for taking care of her for life.
With escalating costs of elder-care and housing, it makes for a nice combo.
Those self-driving cars will be an interesting addition!
New home builder Lennar is building new homes that they call “NextGen”, where there’s a 1bd/1ba granny suite built into the house, complete with kitchenette and separate entry and garage! http://nextgen.lennar.com/