One of the top places that baby boomers consider is Florida. They are attracted to the sunshine state for several reasons. Some of the more popular ones include beaches, golf, warm climate, fishing, ample shopping, theme parks, no snow and affordability.
During the housing boom of 2004 and 2005 Florida was not the place to retire for many baby boomers. The cost of living in Florida simply became too expensive for many of them. Strong buying from speculators and the early wave of baby boomers drove housing to unsustainable price levels.
However, with the correction in the real estate market, Florida is stabilizing and has become affordable again for many baby boomers. Due to the vast number of people that went to Florida seeking out homes for retirement, whether fore-planned or needed immediately, the housing prices increased dramatically. Two years later people quickly found that the movement towards Florida by retirees had seen a significant decline. The decline in demand for Florida housing along with increased supplies of properties for sale ultimately resulted in lower prices. Now that home prices are getting back in line with the other warmer, competing states baby boomers again consider Florida as a viable place to retire.
Here are some statistics for property in Sarasota, Florida:
458 homes under $200,000
2,291 homes under $400,000
3,874 homes under $1,000,000
761 condos under $200,000
1,724 condos under $400,000
2,689 condos under $1,000,000
As you can see there are plenty of affordable properties for sale in Sarasota, Florida. If you examined other areas of Florida I am sure you would see more of the same.
Marc Rasmussen
Realtor with SKY Sotheby's
International Realty selling
Sarasota, FL real estate