The common belief that retirees move once into a 55-and-over community and stay for good is inaccurate, according to Bobby Mathews, team leader at BluSkye Group with RE/MAX Foxfire in Ocala, Florida. Instead, a significant number of retirees relocate multiple times within the same region, often moving between different 55-and-over communities as their real lifestyle preferences emerge after living in their first community.
“We see a lot of people moving, not only within one community because they want a different floor plan or a new neighborhood, but also between 55-and-over communities due to different activities,” Mathews says. This secondary migration forms a distinct market opportunity, separate from the initial wave of retirees moving to Florida or other retirement destinations.
Mathews attributes this pattern to a gap between retirees’ expectations and the realities they discover after moving. Many buyers anticipate an active, highly social retirement, only to find their interests or tolerance for activity changes once they settle in. “People move into a neighborhood thinking they’ll participate in all the activities, go to the town center, dance every night,” Mathews explains. “But once they’re there, they realize they might want more privacy or a different mix of amenities.”
The Villages, Florida’s massive 55-and-over community with nearly 100,000 residents, provides a clear example. Some new residents expect to golf frequently or attend social events, only to learn they prefer quieter settings or activities like pickleball over golf. For others, the dense social environment becomes overwhelming, and they seek out smaller or less active communities after living in The Villages.
This pattern isn’t about buyers making poor choices; it reflects the difficulty of predicting daily preferences in retirement before experiencing them firsthand. A retiree might be sure they’ll golf several times a week, only to discover a preference for less structured or different activities. Similarly, someone might expect to enjoy the constant bustle of a mega-community, then decide they want more space and solitude.
Mathews argues that this secondary migration creates an opportunity for agents who take a consultative approach. Rather than focusing on selling a single community or product, agents should help clients clarify what they actually want from retirement living. “If you’re a new prospect for a 55-and-over community, I want to sit down and ask, What do you want your lifestyle to look like? What’s important to you once you retire?” he says.
Mathews emphasizes asking detailed questions about preferred activities, amenities, and lifestyle goals. “Do you want to golf more? Are adult education classes important? Do you want biking trails?” he asks. By creating a clear list of priorities, agents can match clients to communities that fit their actual preferences, not just their initial assumptions.
This consultative approach requires agents to have in-depth knowledge of many different communities. “We know every 55-and-over community in the area,” Mathews says. “If someone isn’t happy where they are, we can point them to a place that better matches their goals now.”
Unlike primary migrants, who focus on price or location, secondary migrants are making lifestyle-driven decisions. They may be willing to pay more for a community that fits their new priorities, or accept less for their home to move to a quieter or more suitable location.
The secondary migration trend has several important implications for how 55-and-over markets operate. First, it sustains inventory turnover even in mature communities where most buyers have already arrived. As residents move between communities, they put homes back on the market, generating transaction volume that would not exist if everyone stayed put.
Second, this pattern creates opportunities for smaller or more specialized communities. While mega-communities like The Villages attract new retirees with broad amenity packages, smaller communities with a specific character or focus can appeal to secondary migrants who discover they want something different than what they first chose.
Third, it highlights the limits of the traditional sales approach, which often tries to fit every client into a single product. Agents who can help clients clarify their evolving preferences are better positioned to serve both primary and secondary migration markets.
BluSkye Group has built its business model around this insight. The firm operates four offices across the Ocala area, with agents specializing in various 55-and-over communities. This specialization allows agents to develop detailed knowledge about each community’s unique features, making them better equipped to guide residents through both their first and subsequent moves.
The needs of secondary migrants differ from those of primary migrants. While primary migrants often make decisions from afar, relying on online research and short visits, secondary migrants already live in the area and have firsthand experience with at least one community. They know what hasn’t worked for them, even if they’re still discovering what will.
Mathews says agents serving this market must understand not just the amenity lists but also the culture, activity level, resident demographics, and subtle differences between communities. “We can sit down with someone and fit them into the right community based on what’s actually important to them,” he says.
This migration pattern also suggests that community operators could benefit from understanding why residents leave. If a significant number of departures are due to lifestyle mismatches rather than dissatisfaction with the community itself, that feedback could help communities market themselves more accurately and set realistic expectations for new residents.
Whether the broader real estate industry pays attention to this secondary migration market may depend on how visible it becomes in transaction data. If secondary migration accounts for a significant share of sales in mature 55-and-over markets, brokerages that develop expertise in this segment could gain an advantage over those focused only on attracting new retirees.
Ultimately, the pattern of retirees moving within 55-and-over communities underscores that retirement living is not a one-time decision. As preferences and priorities shift, so too do the choices about where – and how – to live. Agents and communities that recognize and address this ongoing evolution are likely to serve their clients more effectively and capture a larger share of this hidden yet active secondary market.
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