There are 111 active adult communities in just four of Connecticut’s eight counties, and the construction of these age-restricted developments – which are ever-popular with town and city governments because of the tax revenue they generate along with the lack of strain they put on resources like schools – shows no signs of slowing down.

But a recent survey measuring the attitudes of consumers in the 50-and-over age bracket toward real estate contradicts some long-held assumptions. The online poll of more than 1,500 people conducted by ERA Real Estate found that the typical aging homeowner was not necessarily looking to downsize and move into an active adult community.

Only 8 percent of people surveyed in that age group who were considering moving in the next five years indicated that they might be interested in buying a home in an active adult community. More than 61 percent reported that they would consider buying a single-family home, with only 11 percent saying that they felt their current home was too big and a quarter reporting that their home was too small.

But some Connecticut Realtors are still seeing huge demand for active adult communities. About 10 percent to 20 percent of Newington Realtor Joanne Breen’s clients end up moving into active adult communities. But that partly might be because Breen is herself is over 50, as are many of her clients.

“I think it depends from Realtor to Realtor,” Breen said. “It’s certainly a part of our market.”

But those clients aren’t necessarily looking to downsize, she said. She had several home shoppers last year – some of whom ended up moving out of state – looking to buy in active adult communities, but who didn’t want smaller homes than the ones they already had.

“They’re not downsizing, they’re just reconfiguring,” Breen said.

Many people looking to move into over-55 developments don’t need the four bedrooms they had when their kids lived at home, but they want to have space for the kids and grandkids to visit. Many empty nesters in Connecticut who are moving into three-bedroom condos or single-family homes in active adult communities seek similar square footage to their old homes. The space that was taken up by an extra bedroom often is devoted to a larger living room or kitchen, however.

“We’re spoiled,” Breen said. “This is not a generation of people who are downsizing.”

Their new homes in age-restricted communities also are frequently more luxurious than their previous dwellings. Many sellers of traditional single-family homes are seeking new homes in active adult communities that are near golf courses and that have more luxury options and less outside maintenance.

“They want to enjoy it,” Breen said of the amenities such communities frequently offer.

The baby boomer generation is different from their parents, who always assumed they would buy a house, pay off the mortgage, sell it and live in a small apartment, Breen said. Some baby boomers are making lateral moves, or moving to slightly smaller spaces, but they are making up for that by investing in luxuries like granite countertops and other customized features.

Active adult communities near the Shoreline have been popular with Connecticut residents over 55, Breen said. Many people are leaving central Connecticut for new homes there.

“They’re hot down there,” she said.

Cromwell has also been popular and homes there have been commanding more than $650,000, thanks to a popular golf course there.

‘Lifestyle’ Change

Other local Realtors’ observations haven’t agreed with the survey’s results. Since people are living longer today, lumping together everyone who is 50-years-old or older includes nearly three generations, said Maureen Campbell, a vice president at North Haven-based H. Pearce Co.

“I think it’s a broad age range,” she said.

The needs of a 50-year-old and an 80-year-old can be very different, she said.

“They’re in a totally different category,” Campbell said.

Most people in their 50s who Campbell encounters are staying in their homes. Many still have kids at home or expect their kids to return for a time after college. Some are even in the market for vacation homes. But many true empty nesters are moving into 55-and-up communities, although they are often 65 or 70, Campbell said.

“[Over-55 developments] are extremely popular and are filling up,” she said.

At 65, lots of people are looking for a maintenance-free lifestyle that leaves them time to travel. Another niche market, assisted living properties, most often are filled with people from 80 to 100, Campbell said.

“We do find that in the assisted living communities, the average age is somewhere around 85,” she said.

Age-restricted housing will continue to be popular, she said.

“Eventually they will all fill up that housing,” Campbell said.

Some researchers and developers questioned the survey findings, arguing that demand for active adult communities is strong and growing, fueled in part by the large, aging baby boomer generation. There are 77.5 million baby boomers – those born between 1946 and 1964 – in America, and people 50 and older control more than 75 percent of the wealth in the country.

There are at least 1,200 active adult communities nationwide, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Of the 1.1 million new homes sales in 2003, roughly 20 percent were to people who were 55 and older, according to builders’ group. A large number of those were relocating to age-restricted active adult communities, said Jeff Jenkins, assistant director of NAHB’s Seniors Council.

“The demand is still very much there,” he said.

When national developers started creating these types of communities, many were located in states with warmer climates, like Arizona and Florida, to attract homeowners from New England and the Midwest. But today, 55-and-over communities are popping up in non-Sunbelt states so buyers can be near their families, said Jenkins.

“There are huge amounts of communities being built in places that you would never associate with active adult communities,” he said.

In New England there are hundreds of active adult communities, according to Jane Marie O’Connor a consultant, researcher and publisher of a guide called Mature Living Choices.

O’Connor, who is chairman of the 50 Plus New England Housing Council, questioned the ERA survey findings that only 8 percent of those considering moving were interested in moving into an active adult community. “Where are they collecting their data?” she asked.

Instead, O’Connor said she agrees with NAHB research which shows that 15 percent of those who are 55 and older desire to live in active adult communities. And as baby boomers age, O’Connor predicts that this percentage will only rise.

In her own research, O’Connor has discovered that the younger the buyer the more willing they are to make a lifestyle change and relocate into such a community. “They are more open to get motivated to do this,” she said.

O’Connor noted that the No. 1 motivating factor for people who want to move into active adult communities is the desire to change their lifestyle. Homeowners who have lived in a home most of their lives, established roots in the community, paid off their home and live near family members are not highly motivated to relocate, she said.

“It’s not a needs-driven choice. It’s a lifestyle desire – a desire to make a change in their lifestyles,” said O’Connor, explaining that many communities offer clubhouses, fitness centers, open spaces and other features attractive to mature buyers.

Savvy builders who do their homework and understand their target audience will be the most successful. O’Connor said she has encountered developers who have had trouble selling units in active adult communities because of poor design, pricing strategy or ineffective marketing. Developers marketing to people 55 and older have to pursue and court them, and try to build relationships with them, she said.

Most buyers in that age group take months longer than other homebuyers to make a decision on whether to purchase a residence in a community. “It’s not a lazy sales process. It is a process that is market-driven,” she said.

In the poll, respondents who said they were considering moving in the next five years selected the Internet as the most popular home-buying research method. But nearly 92 percent said they were only “somewhat to not at all likely” to choose a real estate agent based on online research. Respondents also chose “one point of contact” during the transaction process as the service they are most looking for from a real estate agent.