Whac-A-Mole. That’s the game of retirement relocation. One city looks cheap, people descend, prices skyrocket. Next town down. Repeat.
Retirees used to find bargains. Not anymore. The playbook is shifting. Fixed incomes aren’t keeping pace. Here is where the money is leaking out.
Tampa, Florida
$374,885 — average home price.
Insurance premiums went up. Property taxes followed. The math for Tampa broke for many would-be movers.
“Buyers are looking at Ocala now,” Lesley Hurst of Penn Charter Abstract noted.
Ocala isn’t coastal. It sits between lakes. That doesn’t matter much when you save $100,00+ per house. Average home price there: $269,541.
Phoenix
Desert air. Desert prices.
$410,218 is the median in Phoenix. Tempe is worse. $468,367. Mesa runs $435,375. Scottsdale? Over $850,000.
Utilities kill you here. HOA fees add up.
“It is tough for fixed income,” says Austin Glanzer, an investor with 717 Home Buyers.
Go south. Casa Grande. The average price there is $319,559. You keep the lifestyle. You lose some commute time.
Nashville, Tennessee
$434,014
During the pandemic, homes here jumped 46 percent in two years. A bubble. Prices flatlined recently. Incomes try to catch up. They lag behind.
Try Knoxville. It costs 15 percent less than Nashville. The median price sits around $368,948.
Still no state income tax. Healthcare is good. The Great Smoky Mountains are there too. You get the culture. You keep your money.
Austin, Texas
$509,369
Another pandemic darling. Another market that outgrew its pants.
Prices corrected recently. They remain high. Real estate agent Greg Reese suggests looking away from Texas. Look north. Wichita. Kansas.
“Cost of living is predictable there,” Reese says.
Homes cost $202,887. That is not a typo. Arts scenes have grown since everyone stayed indoors for a year or two. It is easy on the wallet.
Raleigh, North Carolina
$433,587
Ten years ago, people fled to Raleigh for the healthcare. For the food. For housing they could afford. The post-pandemic era killed that affordability.
Retirees are looking west now. Huntsville, Alabama.
Ben Mizes from Clever Real Estate sees the trend. He recommends Huntsville. The average home costs $287,011.
Alabama does not tax Social Security. Healthcare is robust. Mountains are close by.
Your nest egg shrinks in hype markets. Protect it.
