October Home Sales Available - Downward Spiral Continues

Home price sales data through October 2008 is now available for the GreatPlacesToRetire.com survey.

The stock market crash of the last two months has just added to the mortgage/credit confidence crisis. Average prices for new home sales and resales in our 99 top retirement cities are now down 6% from last year. Two-thirds of our surveyed cities have a loss compared to last year, with half of those cities showing double digit losses. Gulf Shores, AL down 33% and Park City, UT down 24% lead the pack down.

As grim as the news seems to be, there are cities that continue to buck the trend of lower home prices. Vail, CO is up 34% from '07. Hot Springs Village, AR (+21%) and Ocean City, NJ (+20%) are also red hot right now. Home prices in Vail started taking off in '06 and have not let up. Hot Springs Village prices are rebounding from a dip during 2007. Ocean City prices slumped during '06 and '07 but are making a comeback in '08. This popular coastal town bears watching given the recent Wall Street meltdown. You can check home price trends for these cities by clicking on the city link provided above.

State-wide, cities in Utah are down the most at 16%. Oregon (-13%) is next with all three cities down double digits. Florida and California are not far behind at -12%. Hanging in there is Washington (+3%) and Texas (+1.6%).

To end on a long-term, positive note. Home price declines have been all the news for the past 2+ years. People shouldn't soon forget the prior 8-10 years where home prices were on a major role. All in all, since 2001, home prices in the majority of our surveyed cities are up an annual average of over 6%. You may have been lucky enough to purchase a home in Prescott, AZ or Bellingham, WA where home prices have more than doubled since '01. Only three cities are in negative territory.

Check home prices back to 2001 for 99 of the top retirement towns and cities in the U.S., plus other key city data at GreatPlacesToRetire.com.

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Home Price Updates for Great Places To Retire

Home price sales data for April and May of 2008 is now available for the top retirement towns and cities in the GreatPlacesToRetire.com survey.

The housing and consumer confidence slump is now hitting our 99 great retirement cities where it hurts. The average sales price of new homes and resales in '08 is down from '07 for the first time (a modest 3%). As reported before in this space, home prices in our great places survey had maintained a small gain from 2007, but no longer (see home sales data for all cities here).

Two-thirds of our survey show losses from '07 with 22 cities down double digits. Gulf Shores, AL down 38% and Sedona, AZ down 35% lead the way. Growth areas include Hot Springs Village, AR up 30% and Ocean City, NJ up 21%. A new town only added this month to our survey is Vail, CO up a whopping 59% from 2007.

Check prices of new homes and resales back to 2001 for 99 of the top retirement towns and cities in the U.S., plus other key city data at GreatPlacesToRetire.com.

20 New Retirement Cities for a Total of 99

The GreatPlacesToRetire.com database now has detailed city facts and MLS links for 99 of the top retirement destinations in the U.S.

New towns and cities include:

Bigfork, MT
Bishop, CA
Carolina Beach, NC
Concord, NH
Fargo, ND
Fond du Lac, WI
Half Moon Bay, CA
Key West, FL
Lynchburg, VA
Marietta, OH
Newnan, GA
Oak Ridge, TN
Pocatello, ID
Port Townsend, WA
Princeton, NJ
Provincetown, MA
The Woodlands, TX
Vail, CO
Valdosta, GA
Wenatchee, WA

These new cities dominate the updated GreatPlacesToRetire City rankings in several data categories: 5 out of the top 15 cities in Climate, 4 out of the top 15 in Population Density and 4 out of the top 15 in Building Permit Growth. Two of the new cities cracked the GreatPlacesToRetire Top 15 -- Concord, NH and Oak Ridge, TN.

GreatPlacesToRetire.com provides MLS links and the latest city data on home sales prices, air quality, water quality, medical care, recreation, crime and more for the top 99 retirement cities and towns in the nation. Use GreatPlacesToRetire.com to help you make an informed decision for that retirement home, second home or vacation home acquisition.

March Home Price Update for Great Places To Retire

Three months of home price data for 2008 are now available for cities in the GreatPlacesToRetire.com survey.

The housing slump is finally starting to hit the 80 great cities in our survey. Only 28 cities are showing home price gains over 2007. Leading the pack are Hot Springs Village, Newport, Chapel Hill and Ocean City with increases of over 20% from '07. On the other hand, "resort" cities Park City, Sedona and Gulf Shores show the worst declines of over 29%. Three months of data is a small sample, particularly for the smaller cities, so we should reserve judgement on the state of the local housing markets until more data is in.

Several of the cities with large gains so far in '08 had home price peaks in 2005 or 2006, and have been on the rise ever since. These include Kailua, Ocean City and Athens. Cities with the largest '08 declines were among the last to be affected by the housing slump with home price peaks in 2007.

State-wise, cities in Arkansas and South Carolina have yet to see a home price peak. Most Texas cities have yet to peak with Galveston the exception peaking in '07. Massachusetts cities peaked in '05! Most cities in California, Colorado and Nevada peaked in '06. Utah peaked in '07. Arizona and Florida cities are all over the board.

Check prices of new homes and resales back to 2001 for our great retirement cities, plus other key city data at GreatPlacesToRetire.com.