The Hudson Valley is getting gray even faster than that, Michael J. DiTullo, executive vice president of Hillside Communities in Newburgh, said. About 500,000 of the 2.2 million residents of the region are 55 or older, he said.

DiTullo said that while many New Yorkers mark their retirement by moving to warm-weather places, many stay in the Northeast, moving to New Jersey, Connecticut of Pennsylvania because they can get housing easier there than they can in New York.

That trend is one of many that speakers at a meeting on eldercare discussed in an attempt to cast light on the economic and social problems and opportunities presented by the aging of the American population.

DiTullo said he believes many people whose children have grown up and moved out remain in their large homes because of a lack of smaller homes in the area. If the region had more smaller homes so that these folks could “downsize� that would free up their houses for young homebuyers, he said.

Meredith Oppenheim, who runs Oppenheim Real Estate Ventures LLP in Manhattan, said the government in Mexico is working to make it easier and safer for American retirees to move to that country. The government and developers see an economic opportunity in the influx of older Americans crossing the border in pursuit of a more affordable place to live.

Many health-care providers in Mexico are seeking partnerships with U.S. health-care institutions in order to establish credibility, said Oppenheim, who won a Congressional Medal of Honor for writing a cookbook for seniors donating all the proceeds to charity.

She said that though Americans who make the move surrender certain benefits, it can still be more affordable.

“It’s not a panacea,� she said of moving to Mexico. “It’s just what some people are seeking as an alternative.�

Provident Bank, Elant Inc. — which is a Goshen-based provider of services for senior citizens — and other sponsors were behind the summit. The audience of more than 100 included government officials, businesspeople, educators and experts on aging.