The Montgomery County Downsizing Report

What homes are actually worth, town by town

Median sale prices vary by source depending on methodology and time window. We're showing Redfin's most recent citywide median sale price where available, cross-checked against Zillow's Home Value Index. Where the two disagreed by a wide margin, both are shown.

Sources: Redfin city and neighborhood market pages, Zillow Home Value Index, Movoto. Full citations in Sources section.

Why the ranges are wide

Silver Spring and Kensington show the biggest spreads for the same reason: both names cover a mix of neighborhoods with very different housing stock under one label. A condo sale in downtown Silver Spring and a colonial in Woodside Park both get reported as "Silver Spring." When a homeowner asks what their specific street is worth, the town-wide median is a starting point, not an answer. That's a comparative market analysis question, not a report question.

The county context that matters for downsizers

Every town above sits well above the statewide Maryland median sale price of roughly $463,000 as of June 2026. That gap is the entire premise of downsizing in this county: a homeowner sitting on Bethesda or Potomac equity has room to move into a smaller home, or a 55+ community, and walk away with real cash left over, not just a smaller mortgage.

The honest answer on downsizer age

Nobody publishes a median age of downsizers for Bethesda versus Rockville versus Olney. That data doesn't exist at the town level, from any source, public or paid. Here's what real data does exist, and how it applies.

• The typical U.S. home seller was 64 years old in 2025, the highest median seller age ever recorded by the National Association of Realtors.
• Among all sellers nationally, 32% traded down and bought a smaller home than the one they sold.
• The typical repeat home buyer nationally is now 62 years old, also a record high.
• Among buyers over age 60 specifically, 17% purchased in senior-related housing. The median age within that specific group is 69.
• Locally, median resident age skews younger because these towns include working families and renters. Rockville's citywide median resident age is 39.6, for context, not as a downsizer figure.

What the two biggest 55+ options actually cost

Montgomery County has one dominant resale 55+ community and one dominant CCRC. Pricing structures are different enough that comparing them head-to-head matters more than comparing either to a house.

Leisure World, Silver Spring (resale, gated, 55+)

Built out since 1967, spanning 29 separate housing associations ("mutuals"), a mix of condos, one co-op, and one HOA section of detached and attached homes.

• Smaller 1-bedroom condos: roughly $160,000 – $270,000
• Updated 2-bedroom condos and co-ops: roughly $300,000 – $490,000
• Larger detached patio homes: up to roughly $1,000,000 for the newest, largest units
• 2026 monthly Trust fee: $275.73 per household, covers basic cable and high-speed internet
• Each mutual also charges its own separate monthly fee on top of the Trust fee
• Resale fee: a one-time 3% of gross sale price goes to the community's Resales Improvement Fund

Riderwood, Silver Spring (Erickson Senior Living, full CCRC)

A continuing care retirement community: independent living, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing on one campus.

• One-bedroom independent living entrance fee: starting around $190,000, 90% refundable
• Monthly service package: starting around $2,700 – $2,800, includes one meal a day, all utilities, maintenance
• Second-person monthly fee: $1,293
• Assisted living, when needed: starting around $7,299 a month

Riderwood pricing is adjusted annually. Confirm current figures directly before presenting them to a client.

Staying versus downsizing, with the math shown

Illustrative example only: a homeowner in a $1.2 million single-family home weighing a move to a $350,000 condo in Leisure World.

Skip the illustrative numbers, run your actual home value and target community →

Where every number came from

Also available: Prince George's County Downsizing Report and Howard County Downsizing Report.