Florida Boasts 7 of 15 Top Retirement Investments
By Bobby Freeman, Florida Realtors® // July 10, 2013
selling price rose from $105,000 to $115,000
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BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Florida has always been a hot spot for retirees and investments.
Our warm climate, sandy beaches and no state income tax are just a few reasons why the Sunshine State is popular especially for real estate investing.
RealtyTrac released a special report on real estate investing in cities that are retirement hot spots – ones where at least one-third of the population is age 65 or older.
“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,” says 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.”
The report found 40 cities nationwide with at least 33 percent of the population age 65 or older. Among these 40 cities, 25 posted annual increases in median home prices.
In addition, 27 had a positive capitalization rate, which suggests that rentals in those markets generate positive cash flow. RealtyTrac ranked the top 15 of 40 retirement hot spot cities based on the annual percent change in home prices as of May.
TOP 15 RETIREMENT HOT SPOTS
Florida had almost half of the nation’s top 15 retirement hot spots, with seven in the list, and Dunellon ranked at No. 1 nationwide. In Dunellon, 38 percent of the population is retirement age or older, and home prices jumped more than 31 percent in the past year.
“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.”
The estimated cap rate in Dunnellon is more than 10 percent based on the average rent for a three-bedroom home there.
Six other Florida cities made the top 15 list: Naples, North Fort Myers, Punta Gorda, Sun City Center, Venice, and Orange City.
Arizona and California each contributed two cities to the list, and Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Oregon and New York each had one city in the top 15.
Here in Brevard County buyers are purchasing at a much faster rate compared to last year. The average days on the market it takes to sell a residential home dropped over 23% from 110 days to 83 days. The median selling price rose over 9% from $105,000 to $115,000.
“I’m seeing a lot of cash buyers coming to our area” says Jennifer McCoy with RE/MAX Elite. “Some are buying without actually looking at the property first. I’ll send buyers a video tour and then try to submit an offer before anyone else does. If buyers wait too long they can easily miss out or have to go against multiple offers” says McCoy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bobby Freeman, a life-time resident of Brevard County, has been a top Realtor in the area for two decades. In his first year as an agent, Freeman received a Rising Star award from his Brokers. Since then he has achieved numerous sales awards and has recently been presented with the prestigious RE/MAX Hall of Fame Award.
Freeman, Jennifer McCoy and Nikki McCoy Freeman are family partners for RE/MAX Elite’s McCoy-Freeman Group. Together they have more than 30 years of extensive experience in all aspects of the real estate industry and have sold over $180 million. Among McCoy-Freeman Group’s achievement are RE/MAX Hall of Fame, RE/MAX 100% Club, Certified Distressed Property Experts (CDPE), Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR) and voted Best Realtor in Brevard County. The group has been featured in many news publications including CNN Money Magazine, CNNMoney.com, WFTV 9 ABC News, Coastal Condo Living, & Hot Retirement Towns Magazine and SpaceCoastDaily.com.
For more information log on to BrevardRealtyConnection.
