Despite the common misconception that seniors don’t use the internet, rapid growth in traffic on the Seniors Housing Online website shows that seniors and baby boomers are enthusiastically using the internet to search for retirement housing.
Rapid internet uptake, the ageing of the population, increasing demand for retirement housing, a more mobile population and a highly fragmented market have all made the web the obvious place for consumers to find practical information about ‘over 55’ housing.
;
The most recent ABS statistics indicate that more than half of all Australian baby boomer adults (52%) used the internet in 2000, as did 19% of those aged over 55. With internet access and useage accelerating rapidly in recent years – up from 31% of the Australian adult population in 1998 to 58% in 2002 – the babyboomer and seniors segment in this market cannot be ignored.
;
Along with everybody else, older Australians are very quickly discovering the benefits of using the internet – to book holidays, order groceries, buy real estate, and the list goes on. There is now a general expectation that the internet is a great first base for researching just about any topic you can imagine – including ‘over 55’ housing.
;
As the sheer volume of information on the web grows daily, the role of effective search engines has become crucial in being able to locate what you are looking for.
;
The Seniors Housing Online website provides a national search engine to help consumers easily and effectively access the fragmented ‘over 55’ housing market.
;
In many cases, ‘over 55’ housing operators and developers do not employ real estate agents to market their property, preferring to keep their sales and management ‘in-house’. This has made it particularly difficult for consumers to easily locate ‘over 55’ property, despite the growth of real estate websites which has transformed the search for other types of property in recent years.
;
While some ‘over 55’ accommodation operators have websites, many don’t, and even when they have a website, it is not easy to find on the internet, and may not include basic information for consumers. Most of these websites operate as an adjunct to print advertising, and rely on other advertising channels to attract consumers to the site.
;
As an alternative to the cumbersome, frustrating and often fruitless process of searching for individual retirement housing websites on the internet, consumers can now go to just one site – Seniors Housing Online – and search by area and price. The time saving is immense, as a search on just one website can bring up hundreds of ‘over 55’ properties, complete with photographs and practical information, to help develop a short list of suitable accommodation.
;
The service is free to consumers and traffic levels have quickly confirmed it has hit the mark, with over 450,000 hits per month.
Consumers include internet savvy seniors and baby boomers, as well as younger friends and relatives of seniors looking for accommodation. The search for accommodation for older relatives can become a major concern for many people in their forties and fifties. Time is at a premium for those people juggling demanding jobs and their own children, and the internet is often the first port of call because they can get on the computer late at night or over the weekend or whenever suits them.
;
Consumers need to be able to easily access very practical information without having to make lots of phone calls during office hours to find out basic information like pricing, waiting lists and levels of care. Taking an older person to inspect accommodation, and/or considering moving to a new area, is a major life event which needs careful research first.
;
The Seniors Housing Online website is geared to helping consumers find all the information they need to compile a shortlist of suitable places to inspect.
;
Source : http://www.seniorshousingonline.com.au
