I'm curious about the Snowbird phenomenon. I have a question for a school project. (Phoenix: condo)

[loveaz32]

I wish I knew about this site in 2016 when I moved here.

I'm working on a project for school regarding the population and effect of snowbirds on the local economy and communities.

I'm looking for the best source for data on the migration. I need to find out where they come from. Basically where they live and what their demographics are. Does anyone know if the state or the cities in Phoenix have any studies on the people who come? Stuff like age, race, cities of origin, etc.

Anything that you guys have would be really helpful to me. Super duper appreciate it.

[turkeydance]

https://www.point2homes.com/US/Neigh...ographics.html

[loveaz32]

Originally Posted by turkeydance

https://www.point2homes.com/US/Neigh...ographics.html

Thank you. Yeah there seems to be a lot of this stuff, but nothing about the people who show up here each year like:

Where they come from.
Their profile like age, race, income, etc.

I know its a lot of cold cities, but the other stuff is super helpful to know exactly who it is coming. Super young, super old, homeowners, etc.

Thanks in advance.

[thinkalot]

In my 55+ condo association:

They are about 10 years older on average. We haven't sold a unit to a snowbird in 8 years when over half of our units have sold in that time.

They are not real popular in some condo associations. They don't want to spend money on improvements and their excuse is they have another home to pay for.

We DO have an increase in part time residents. They come and go throughout the year.

[grmi66]

Used to manage a shop that sold windshields for RV's. So we tracked the patterns of snowbirds to Arizona in order to sell more windshields. At least for people driving RV's down they would either head down to Arizona the day after Thanksgiving to avoid early winter storms in the midwest or head down after the first big cold spell. But generally they were all down in Arizona by the first week of December.

Purely anecdotal on my part, but it seems that Arizona sees more snowbirds from MN, IA, WI and that general region of the country. My family and friends that lives in Michigan are snowbirds in Florida.

[Mike from back east]

We live in a gated 55+ community in Peoria. Gated communities are popular as they provide a sense of security for the "lock and go" lifestyle of snowbirds and for year round residents who travel a lot in summer.

About 25% of our homes are owned by snowbirds who begin arriving in October and leave by late April. They come from Seattle, Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, Chicago, Denver and some still come from Canada. A lot of snowbirds are retirees but some are still working. Most are 55+ and all that I've seen are white and married.

Many homes which were owned by Canadians were sold in the last few years as the Canadian dollar lost value relative to the U.S. dollar. The Canadian dollar is only worth about 75-cents here so by selling homes here for U.S. dollars they got great buying power with that cash back in Canada.

IMO the economic impact of snowbirds is similar to full time residents -- while they're here. They fill up restaurants, golf courses, movies and other places during snowbird season. By not being here in the summer they spend very little on electricity, gas, and water which probably bugs the utilities. Snowbirds do spend money on landscapers who keep places in good trim all summer while they are back up north. Our house is landscaped with rocks, shrubs and astroturf so it needs minimal water and maintenance (no mowing, etc).

[loveaz32]

Thank you guys so much. This is really awesome. I appreciate all your time to write what you did.

[gemstone1]

Yuma, one of the prime AZ destinations for winter visitors, has a detailed study that may answer some of your questions...check the link.

Regards
Gemstone1

[loveaz32]

thank you gemstone!!!