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.
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