Do you crave sun and beaches in retirement?
So, where are the best areas to retire? Or if you are retiring this year, what are the best places to retire in 2012? Moving to another area in retirement has become quite fashionable however, the “brakes have been put on” a little due to the real estate crisis.
It’s a “catch 22″ situation right now; home values are down a lot in most areas which means people are hanging onto them until the real estate situation improves but on the flip side, buying real estate is cheap so for many, selling their homes cheap could be offset by buying just as cheap elsewhere.
Hope that made some sense?
But back to the question of where are the best places to retire and an article which surfaced recently at money.usnews.com which we wanted to bring to you earlier could very well have the answer you’ve been looking for. Each of the ten places listed are in the US. There are many reasons people will move to a new location to retire with weather being one and affordability another. But it’s a major decision especially when you leave kids and grand kids behind.
The report list areas such as Flagstaff, Arizona, Boone, North Carolina, Traverse City, Michigan and Port Charlotte, Florida. Do any of these areas “ring a bell” with you?
Better weather, affordable housing, and plenty of interesting things to do are just a few reasons people move to a new place when they retire. Whether you want to spend your golden years watching the sun set over the water or taking on a second career, we’ve identified an ideal place. Using data from Onboard Informatics, U.S. News selected 10 key attributes that many people look for in a retirement spot, along with a city that excels in meeting each need. Here are 10 excellent places to retire in 2012.
Pleasant year-round weather: Flagstaff, Ariz.
Flagstaff’s high altitude and low humidity generally lead to a pleasant four-season climate throughout most of the year. To select a place with great year-round weather, we used National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data to find places with the most sunny days. Among the sunniest cities, we looked for places where the temperature seldom rises above 90 degrees. The sun shines in Flagstaff an average of 78 percent of the year, according to NOAA data, but unlike most other sunny climates, the temperature only rises above 90 degrees an average of three days per year…..
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What’s our favorite on the list? Well, we don’t want to show any bias towards any one area but just quietly, Port Charlotte in Florida sounds appealing. It’s an area we are pretty familiar with and if you tried to buy property there just five short years ago you would have been shelling out a small fortune, especially on a waterway.
We would like to add one more area to that least. It’s Panama City Beach in the Florida Pan Handle and we have mentioned this area before. It’s still very much what old Florida used to be like and while there has been development going on here, for the perfect retirement lifestyle, it’s hard to beat.
Panama City Beach is a popular destination for the northern snowbirds who flock to it in droves during the fall and winter months with many staying for almost half a year. We don’t blame them. It’s one of our favorite places on the planet and if it’s long, wide, white sandy beaches you’re after, this is the place to come.
How about you? What are the best areas to retire in your opinion? We’d love to know and invite you to leave a comment and add to our list.