Median home price: $115,000
After the housing bubble burst, many older Americans postponed their retirement to the Sunshine State, significantly hurting retiree havens like Fort Myers.
Things are looking up now, especially as an influx of Canadian retirees and vacation-home seekers look to take advantage of a strong Canadian dollar and beaten down home prices.
Median listing prices for the Fort Myers metro area saw the biggest increase in the nation last year, up 31% compared with 12 months earlier, according to Realtor.com. That trend should continue thanks to shrinking housing inventory, which was down 35% year-over-year.
New inventory will also be making its way onto the market. Custom home building is on the rise, which has helped to create more construction jobs, said Tuccillo. The unemployment rate for the metro area fell 2.7 percentage points over the 12 months ended in November to 10.5%.
Fiserv estimates that home prices should climb by more than 5% over the next five years
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