Places to buy a retirement home for a good deal #7
For Americans looking to buy retirement property, the historic real estate crash has created all sorts of opportunities. Home prices in 20 major metropolitan areas have declined roughly 28 percent from their 2006 peaks. Meanwhile, government efforts to ramp up demand for homes have significantly reduced mortgage costs for borrowers. Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates stood at 4.37 percent for the week ending September 16, only slightly above the 39-year lows reached two weeks earlier. Taken together, lower home prices and cheap mortgage rates have made home buying much more affordable than just a few years ago. And given that real estate values in many traditional retirement spots--like Florida and Arizona--have fallen even harder than the national average, Americans who are ready to embark on the second half of their lives are in a particularly favorable position. To that end, U.S. News has compiled a list of 10 places where retirement home buyers can purchase property for less than $600 a month.
In putting together our list, we obtained median home price data from the National Association of Realtors for 159 metropolitan statistical areas throughout the country. After subtracting a 20 percent down payment, we plugged the remaining figure into a mortgage calculator using a 4.37 percent rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage. We then looked for places that would make desirable retirement destinations and whose monthly mortgage payments totaled less than $600. Please note that these monthly payments only reflect costs for mortgage principal and interest, which will represent the majority of a homeowner's monthly housing expenses. It does not, however, take into account expenses for taxes, insurance, and utilities, which can vary significantly from one place to another.
7. Tampa, Fla.: Whether it's boating on the bay, bass fishing in the Hillsborough River, or scanning for dolphin from its white-sand shorelines, the Tampa area has plenty of activities to offer retirees. Like many other markets in Florida, real estate values in Tampa have tanked in recent years, plummeting 42 percent since July 2006. The median home price in the Tampa area was $141,000 in the second quarter of 2010, a slight increase from a year earlier. Buyers who put 20 percent down--or $28,200--on a median-priced, Tampa-area home can expect to make payments for mortgage principal and interest of about $563 each month.
For Americans looking to buy retirement property, the historic real estate crash has created all sorts of opportunities. Home prices in 20 major metropolitan areas have declined roughly 28 percent from their 2006 peaks. Meanwhile, government efforts to ramp up demand for homes have significantly reduced mortgage costs for borrowers. Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates stood at 4.37 percent for the week ending September 16, only slightly above the 39-year lows reached two weeks earlier. Taken together, lower home prices and cheap mortgage rates have made home buying much more affordable than just a few years ago. And given that real estate values in many traditional retirement spots--like Florida and Arizona--have fallen even harder than the national average, Americans who are ready to embark on the second half of their lives are in a particularly favorable position. To that end, U.S. News has compiled a list of 10 places where retirement home buyers can purchase property for less than $600 a month.
In putting together our list, we obtained median home price data from the National Association of Realtors for 159 metropolitan statistical areas throughout the country. After subtracting a 20 percent down payment, we plugged the remaining figure into a mortgage calculator using a 4.37 percent rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage. We then looked for places that would make desirable retirement destinations and whose monthly mortgage payments totaled less than $600. Please note that these monthly payments only reflect costs for mortgage principal and interest, which will represent the majority of a homeowner's monthly housing expenses. It does not, however, take into account expenses for taxes, insurance, and utilities, which can vary significantly from one place to another.
7. Tampa, Fla.: Whether it's boating on the bay, bass fishing in the Hillsborough River, or scanning for dolphin from its white-sand shorelines, the Tampa area has plenty of activities to offer retirees. Like many other markets in Florida, real estate values in Tampa have tanked in recent years, plummeting 42 percent since July 2006. The median home price in the Tampa area was $141,000 in the second quarter of 2010, a slight increase from a year earlier. Buyers who put 20 percent down--or $28,200--on a median-priced, Tampa-area home can expect to make payments for mortgage principal and interest of about $563 each month.