For home builders, this is among the weightiest questions for the next 20 years: Where will the baby boomers really want to move, when and if they sell the homes where they've raised their families?

Will they opt for the stereotypical post-retirement golf course communities so popular in the 1980s and '90s? Will they head for new beach and ski resort real estate developments? Or will they downsize and move to a center city condo to maximize use of cultural attractions and avoid long commutes?

With more than 70 million boomers heading down the demographic conveyor belt toward retirement - and the oldest of them hitting 60 this year - no wonder these questions were prominent at the National Association of Home Builders' annual conference in Orlando, Fla., Jan. 11 to 14.

Though consumer survey research consistently has shown for decades that homeowners in their 40s and 50s often have no detailed plans to downsize or sell their houses, a major new statistical study unveiled at the convention suggests that the boomers might have different ideas.

In the boomer study, more than 50 percent of all homeowners aged 45 to 54, and nearly 60 percent of homeowners aged 55 to 64, rated themselves either "likely" or "very likely" to buy a vacation, investment or new primary home sometime in the next five years.

Roughly 49 percent of owners 55 and older say they are likely to move into some form of "active adult" community. One out of five boomer households say they are thinking about moving to an age-restricted adult community - a figure more than double what a similar study found just five years ago.

The new research, conducted by ProMatura Group LLC, an Oxford, Miss.-based consulting group, comprised a statistical sample of 2,309 boomers polled Nov. 28 to 30. The study was limited to households with Internet connections and has a 1.8 percent margin of error.

Valle Escondido, in Boquete, Panama. Many baby boomers are retiring to Panama attracted by its tropical environment.

Margaret Wylde, president and chief executive of ProMatura and a longtime expert on behavioral dynamics of aging, told the builders that boomers' attitudes on housing and location may be significantly different from that of their immediate predecessors. They are seriously willing to consider moving to planned communities that emphasize "active lifestyles," fitness and social interactions.

But boomers' desires for physical pursuits aren't necessarily what real estate developers might assume. For example, though golf-related second home and "active adult" communities were all the rage in recent decades, boomers may not be willing to sink their retirement housing capital into golf links. Just 1.7 percent of homeowners 55 and older said they were likely to purchase a home on a golf course, and just 5 percent said they wanted a view of a golf course.

Contrast that with 25.5 percent of the same group that said they want to end up living on - or with a view of - a fresh waterfron of some sort, such as a lake or river. Boomers also may not be as eager as some developers assume to buy property on or close to salt water - perhaps in part because of concerns about potential future storm damage. Just 1.7 percent consider themselves highly likely to buy oceanfront, and just 6.8 percent want to buy property with a salt-waterfront view.

Contrast those numbers with the biggest draw among boomers when it comes to views: non-golf-related "green space," such as parklands or common area green strips built into many modern planned communities.

Boomers want to see trees, grass and fresh water - minus whizzing golf balls - out their windows.

Active boomers put an emphasis on the presence of well-equipped fitness centers nearby. Nearly one-quarter of all boomer homeowners 55 and older want to live within walking distance of a fitness center or health club - a priority that is more than double the level of interest of homeowners in general.

With all this high energy, boomers apparently plan to load up on fuel through fine dining. Whereas just 3.2 percent of homeowners of all ages want to live within walking distance of "fine restaurants," more than four times as many boomers 55 and older consider that a key feature of their ideal future community.

Boomers are emphatic about bedrooms - the magic number is three - but don't seem to mind if their total living space, whether in condo or detached single family form, is smaller than their longtime family homes. Sixty-two percent say they'd be happy with less square footage, as long as "everything is top quality" in the new place.

The boomers are loaded with real estate equity, and they apparently want to sail into retirement with high-end kitchens, bathrooms, spas, entertainment centers and you name it. And boomers, as everybody knows, are used to getting what they want.

"The Gatun Explorer"

The wildlife and incredible tropical scenery of the Gatún Lake area can be discovered with the new tours offered by Panama City Tours and the boat Gatún Explorer, a 61-foot vessel equipped with all the amenities needed for a complete water safari.

Although it is known around the world due to its role in the Panama Canal complex, Gatún Lake is still an "off-the-beaten-path" tourist destination. It features hundreds of pristine coves, bays and forest-clad islands –the former summits of scores of hills inundated when the Chagres River was dammed to create the lake almost a century ago.

The trip will allow visitors to see alligators, hundreds of birds and mammals in addition to huge ocean vessels transiting the Panama Canal.

Passengers can enjoy a wide range of water sports.

Fishing, swimming, diving, kayaking, and birdwatching are some of the activities offered. Tours, can be transformed into complete vacation packages with day and nightime activities. The vessel is equipped with a fully air-conditioned main cabin, two salons with entertainment centers, a library of Panama related books and videos; 15-foot pangas, canoes kayaks and electric boats, a complete kitchen and a cash shop. At night, the salons convert into four double berths.

For more information on the Gatún Explorer tours, call tel.: (507) 263-8918 or visit the page: www.gatunexplorer.com

Héctor Sánchez, in front of his stand at the fair.

Mr. Hector Sánchez, owner of Chiriquí River Rafting, recently took part in the 2006 Adventure Travel Show, a trade fair for adventure/eco-tourist companies, in New York City. His company was the only Panamanian company present at the fair.

Chiriquí River Rafting offers adrenaline-pumping adventures on the rapids of the Chiriquí and Chiriquí Viejo rivers, in Panama's westernmost province of Chiriquí.

Researchers from the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, DC will be visiting the Boquete area February 17 to 21 to study the experiences of US retirees in Panama. The Migration Policy Institute is an independent, non-profit, and non-partisan research institute that studies the migration of people worldwide. (Their website is: www.migrationpolicy.org)

The research team would like to talk with US retirees about their decisions to retire abroad and their experiences in Panama. They also want to learn how government policies in Panama might affect retirees' lives and their decisions to settle abroad.

U.S. retirees are welcome to participate in a focus group with 8-10 other retirees that would last no longer than a few hours. Researchers will not ask participants for sensitive information, and they will keep the participant's name, identifying information, and responses confidential. These discussions will be held over a meal and the organization will provide participants a $25 stipend.

If you would like to participate, or have questions about the study, email Julia Gelatt at jgelatt@migrationpolicy.org, or call 202-266-1940 (Note that this would be an international call.) Please respond by January 30th.

The findings of this study and research in Mexico will be published in Spring 2006 and distributed to policymakers, researchers, and others interested in international retirement migration.

PanaMen Expatriates; a new social group of men from other countries who live in, or are visiting Panama, will hold its first social today Friday, January 27, at 5 p.m. at the Veneto Hotel Pool Deck, 7th floor, on Via Veneto, in El Cangrejo. Admission is free.

The only requirement for membership is that the man is an Expatriate (that means a person from another country) living in Panama.

In the Hotel Lobby, walk to the elevator and punch 7. Step off the elevator, turn right. Walk to the end of the hall and out the doors to the pool deck.

Robert Hollington, the Veneto's Executive Chef (from Scotland) promises a gourmet hors oeuvres, buffet, for $10.00. Drinks (local beer in house wine) cost $1.50.

The hotel will give attendees a $10.00 match play coupon for any table game at the new Veneto Casino.

In the future, other venues will afford us the opportunity to do things that men want, in places that men would like to go. We are not limited and we are always open to suggestions.

Be there at the beginning of a new group of expatriate men, gathering to meet others, have a few laughs and enjoy life in Panama.

To be placed on the mail list, send a blank email to: panamenex@yahoo.com (add this address to your address book).

And pass on to this associates who are expatriates.