The state of Florida has the most cities with high senior populations paired with rising home prices on a recent ranking of the top 15 retirement “hot spots” for real estate investing in the U.S., showing up a total of eight times.
Prime retirement real estate investment opportunities include Dunnellon and Naples, Fla., Hot Springs Village, Ark., Douglassville, Pa., and Sun City, Ariz., according to RealtyTrac’s 15 Best Retirement Hot Spots for Real Estate Investing. Six other Florida cities made the top 15 list as well: Naples, North Fort Myers, Punta Gorda, Sun City Center, Venice, and Orange City.
Seniors aged 65 or older comprise at least 33% of 40 cities’ overall populations around the country, according to the report. Among those, 25 posted annual increases in median home prices, and 27 had a positive capitalization rate, indicating rentals in those markets generate positive cash flow.
RealtyTrac also factored in relevant data such as cost of living, average temperature, and annual chance of sunshine when compiling its list of the top 15 retirement hot spots out of those 40 cities with high senior populations, ranked by the annual percent change in home prices as of May 2013.
“These popular retirement cities will very likely be an area of growth in the housing market over the next 15 years as baby boomers retire in greater numbers,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “The baby boomer generation started retiring in 2011, a trend that will continue at least through 2029, ensuring plenty of demand for both rentals and owner-occupant purchases in these markets for the foreseeable future.”
Also included in the top 15: Florence, Ore., Green Valley, Ariz., Seal Beach, Calif., and East Hampton, N.Y.
“The Hamptons will continue to grow into a retirement hot spot on Long Island, offering an attractive environment for seniors,” said Emmett Laffey, CEO at Laffey Fine Homes International, which covers Long Island and the five New York boroughs. “Developers’ appetite to construct housing aimed towards retirement-aged adults is growing again. They are well aware that this buyer pool will only increase over the next 15 years.”
View RealtyTrac’s report here.
Written by Alyssa Gerace
