(FORTUNE Magazine) – It's what every retiree dreams of. But lately second-act home hunters have been in for some rude surprises. Sedona always sounded like a nice place to buy? Home prices are up 47% in the past three years, according to Michael Sklarz, chief valuation officer for Fidelity National Financial. How about scenic Hilton Head? The going rate for a two-bedroom condo (we're not even talking near the ocean) is $400,000. Yes, as real estate was booming over the past few years, plenty of retirement fantasies were going bust. "Have you been to Hilton Head lately?" asks Gary Eldred, author of Investing in Real Estate. "Traffic is a nightmare." So is it even possible to get away from it all? Of course it is. You just have to look a little harder than you used to--and you have to get away from the towns that have become gray-haired hot spots. The retirees here recently settled in places that aren't famous retirement havens--and that's the point. But they are all beautiful locales that have a range of retiree draws (from elk to opera to education). Best of all, they're still relatively affordable. After all, what good is getting away from it all if you can't afford to enjoy it?

LEIGH AND SALLIE STONE AGES: 59, 55

RETIRED TO: BEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA

MEDIAN HOME PRICE: $139,000

"I would never want to be where everyone was my age," says Sallie, a former nonprofit veteran. She and Leigh, a former Pfizer executive, fell in love with Beaufort, a 500-year-old seaside town between Charleston and Savannah (it's where The Big Chill was filmed). In 2003 they purchased a waterfront lot and hired an architect to build a 4,000-square-foot house (total cost: around $1.8 million).

KEY SELLING POINTS: Sea Islands, golf, boating, and fishing, plus inexpensive university courses (the Stones have taken a dozen). A cancer center is also underway.

FRED AND SHIRLEY BROWN AGES: 63, 57

RETIRED TO: FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA

MEDIAN HOME PRICE: $225,500

Fred, who used to be the CEO of BJC HealthCare and still does volunteer work as the chairman of the National Kidney Foundation, originally dreamed of retiring from St. Louis to somewhere in the Carolinas. But when Shirley, a former travel agent, orchestrated a drive through New Mexico and Arizona in June 2002, "Fred nearly fell over when he saw the area." It's no wonder: Their one-acre plot, which they purchased last August, sits on the 14th tee on one of the finest fairways in the state, surrounded by aspen and ponderosa pines with a backdrop of the San Francisco Peaks (the Browns often spot elk wandering outside their windows).

KEY SELLING POINTS: Flagstaff is only two hours from the Grand Canyon and 22 hours from Phoenix. It has all four seasons (with a winter less bitter than in Northern states) and nearby skiing. The city also has its own symphony and a number of galleries specializing in Native American art, plus the Lowell Observatory, famous for the discovery of Pluto 74 years ago.

THOMAS PEACOCK AGE: 75

RETIRED TO: SARASOTA, FLORIDA

MEDIAN HOME PRICE: $190,000

Thomas Peacock didn't set off for Florida when he retired from his dentistry practice. In fact, the Queens resident originally retired to Wilson, N.C., his hometown. But after seven years there, Peacock visited a friend in Sarasota, and four months later he was building a four-bedroom home in a gated community geared toward retirees. "It's a happy group of people here," he says. "Everybody knows everybody." For Peacock, an opera buff who spent half his life in New York City, culture was one of the draws. He attends free jazz concerts by the bay, buys tickets to the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, belongs to an opera guild, and meets for lunch with other opera lovers to discuss librettos.

KEY SELLING POINTS: Fabulous beaches, a lively arts community, more than 30 golf courses in the county, average year-round temperature of 73 degrees, and abundant health care.

DON AND ALTHEA GELETA AGES: 71, 70

RETIRED TO: GRANTS PASS, OREGON

MEDIAN HOME PRICE: $159,000

Climate is so important to the Geletas that it drove them out of California. "The heat started to get to us," says Don, a former engineer for Lockheed. He and Althea, a former secretary and librarian, settled into their new home last September--a three-bedroom, 2,200-square-foot house with a pool on 22 flower-and tree-filled acres. They love the space to spread out. Althea, a certified master gardener, has four different gardens on the property; Don spends hours each day in a cottage practicing the saxophone and the flute (he plays in a community band).

KEY SELLING POINTS: A mild climate and one of the lowest wind velocities in the nation, fishing that has attracted the likes of John Wayne and George H.W. Bush, whitewater rafting on the Rogue River, and a new hospital with an adjacent cancer center. Ashland, home of the famous Shakespeare festival, is just 40 miles away.

DAN AND PEGGY MORACZEWSKI AGES: 55, 52

RETIRED TO: AUSTIN, TEXAS

MEDIAN HOME PRICE: $125,000

Most people think this university town is great for young people. And to the Moraczewskis, that was exactly the point. They lived in Texas during the '70s and '80s when Dan, an executive with American Greetings, was assigned to the area. They were living near Cleveland in 2002 when they went to Austin to watch the Santa Clara University women's soccer team play for the national championship (their daughter is the team manager). "Our whole family fell in love with Austin," says Peggy. As young retirees, they loved the capital city's convenience and the bustling social scene on Sixth Street for their son and daughter. They're about to break ground on a three-bedroom house near Lake Travis (they'll spend about $400,000). Says Dan: "We hope to be there before the snow falls in Ohio."

KEY SELLING POINTS: The University of Texas at Austin is the country's single biggest student body, with 48,000 enrollees. The city boasts 300 sunny days per year, 11 hospitals, and an international airport. Since Austin was hit hard by the tech bust, home prices have been pretty flat for the past few years (a bonus for buyers).

HOME PRICES SOURCE: FIDELITY NATIONAL FINANCIAL