20 Retirement Towns Where Home Prices Are Falling (and Rising) the Most
By J. David Herman,
2024-08-14
Sun-kissed days. Tax friendliness. Access to quality health care. A sense of community.
These factors may be top-of-mind when you’re hunting for your dream retirement spot. If you’re looking to buy a place instead of rent, however, trends for home prices should also be near the top of the list, for a couple of reasons.
For one, cities where home prices are falling may be dipping into your price range. Take fashionable Taos, New Mexico — where nearly a third of the population is age 65 or older — as an example. This year’s average value for a single-family home ($471,000) may be more accessible than last year’s ($522,000). That’s a decline of $51,000 or 10 percent, year-over-year.
On the other hand, dips that are too great — or turn into full-on trends — could end up leaving you underwater on a large investment. In Mount Carmel, Illinois (which has a similar population to Taos with about a quarter of residents age 65 or older) the average cost of a single-family home is down 22 percent in the last year and has fallen below $100,000. The numbers are also down from five years ago, however, by 12 percent. So long-term prospects are shakier.
Data Trends To Pay Attention to
Financial pros will advise you to proceed with caution and keep an eye on the numbers. To assist, GOBankingRates has compiled a pair of top 10 lists: retirement spots where home values have risen the most in the past year and retirement spots where home values have fallen the most in the past year.
The lists blend data from Zillow’s Home Value Index and the U.S. Census American Community Survey. Both lists include some places you’ve likely heard of. For additional perspective, we’ve also included trends for the past five years.
Change of value in past year (dollars): + $238,672
Percent change in value in past year: +13.6%
Rob Latour/Shutterstock / Rob Latour/Shutterstock
10. Montecito, California
Population: 8,529
Percentage of population age 65+: 35.6%
Percent change in SFH value since 2019: +68.3%
SFH average value as of June 2023: $5,284,758
SFH average value as of June 2024: $5,521,056
Change of value in past year (dollars): +$236,298
Percent change in value in past year: +4.5%
Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates first analyzed populations to identify retirement hubs — U.S. cities with a high percentage of retired residents. Total population, population of residents aged 65 and over, total households and household median income for these cities were sourced from the U.S. Census American Community Survey. Cities in which less than 20 percent of residents are age 65 and over were removed for this study. Cities with a population under 5,000 were removed for this study. The average single-family-home values from June 2024, June 2023 and June 2019 were sourced from the Zillow Home Value Index. The one- and three-year changes in home values, as well as the one- and three-year percentage changes were calculated. The 10 cities with the highest increase in one-year home values were recorded and sorted, as were the 10 cities with the highest decrease in one year. All data is up to date as of July 30, 2024.
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