Splitters -- a new type of homeowner

My father turns 60 in September. Yesterday, he got on a plane with my mother and flew down to Naples, Florida, to check out the progress on their oceanfront condo just north of town on Estero Island. They are about to become Splitters. This is a relatively new term that describes the set of people in our country who are taking advantage of low-cost travel corridors with multiple daily flights, advances in technology, and virtual workspaces and splitting their time between a primary residence and a second home.

Splitters are not snowbirds who spend the winters in warm climates and the summers in cooler Northern climates. Rather they continuously travel back and forth, leaving completely equipped homes in both locations. With the rise of airlines such as JetBlue, Southwest Airlines and USA 3000, splitters can hop a plane from, in my parents' case, St. Louis to Ft. Meyers, FL, for $69 each way. Therefore, they do it -- on average 18 times a year. According to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, 36 percent of all homes purchased in 2004 were second homes.

Some splitters are splitting between the city and the suburbs. One of my cousins just purchased a small condo in downtown Chicago and a nice townhouse in Evanston, IL. They want simply to be able to stay overnight in the city without having to train back out to Evanston.

With 75 million baby boomers heading into their golden years, experts say the splitter factor could alter the way developers build and manage the communities of tomorrow.

“The implications for future growth are considerable,” says Kenneth Johnson, a demographer and sociology professor at Loyola University in Chicago. “[Splitters] are one of the fastest-growing demographic markets.”