Housing Affordability Could Give Active Adult Communities a Boost
Orlando, FL (Feb. 9, 2012) – Shortly after the new year, as the weather in northern climates gets blustery…at least in most years, an annual migration gets into full swing. Snowbirds begin to head south. Avatar Properties™, an active adult community builder in the Sunbelt, says these migrating snowbirds will find some pleasant surprises when it comes to home prices.

Consider this fact. In two of the most popular snowbird locations, Florida and Arizona, more than 1 million snowbirds are now looking for places to roost for the winter (800,000 in Florida; 300,000 in Arizona). Among home builders, conventional wisdom holds that a great many of these snowbirds will spend the season searching for the perfect active adult community to call home – for many, on a permanent basis.

For those on just such a search, there is some very good news at hand. Home prices in both Arizona and Florida are now at levels not seen since 2000. In Phoenix, the median home price at the end of 2011 stood at $122,000 according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index; in places like Orlando, the median price bottomed at $108,000 in early 2011 from a high of $248,000 in early 2007. After years of escalating home prices made these traditional retirement havens less attractive destinations for the 55+ set, the housing downturn...