2008 finished with home prices down a collective 11.4% from 2007 in the 99 great retirement cities covered by the GreatPlacesToRetire.com survey.
The decline is only slightly better than the nation-wide survey from the National Association of Realtors which shows a 12.3% drop. Few cities have been spared in this crunch. Every city surveyed in Florida, Utah, Oregon and New York show declines compared with 2007. Prescott(+14%) and Bishop(+6) are the lone cities in Arizona and California, respectively, showing a gain. Vail is an anamoly in Colorado up a remarkable 37%. State-wide, only Texas and Washington had a majority of cities showing a home sales price gain with Tyler up 10% and Port Townsend up 12% from 2007. Inland cities near the mountains or near large rivers or lakes faired better than those on the coasts. And cities in cool and dry climates (high in the mountains) maintained their prices better than those in warm and dry climates (desert southwest).
Of course, all of this doom and gloom is good news for those in the market for a retirement or vacation home. Prices may not get much better than they are now in many of the great cities and towns all over the country.
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.
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