Best Retirement Hot Spots in US

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Retirement-centered communities in the United States have bounced back since the real estate crash, a new study found.

Of the 40 communities in the U.S. where at least one-third of the population is over the age of 65, 25 posted gains in sale prices in the last year, data firm RealtyTrac found. The firm also tracked a variety of other factors, including the cost of living and capitalization rates, providing a broader snapshot of the retirement hot spots.

"These popular retirement cities will very likely be an area of growth in the housing market over the next 15 years as baby boomers retire in greater numbers," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. "The baby boomer generation started retiring in 2011, a trend that will continue at least through 2029, ensuring plenty of demand for both rentals and owner-occupant purchases in these markets for the foreseeable future."

Dunnellon, a central Florida city where 38 percent of the population is retirement age, posted the largest increase in home prices in May, 31 percent above the year before.

Six other Florida cities made RealtyTrac's top 15 list: Naples, North Fort Myers, Punta Gorda, Sun City Center, Venice, and Orange City. Arizona and California each contributed two cities to the list.

Not coincidentally, Florida, Arizona and California were among the states hardest hit by the real estate crash and have posted the biggest increases as markets start to recover. But the data could suggest that there is opportunity in communities that are focused on senior citizens.

"Developers' appetite to construct housing aimed towards retirement-aged adults is growing again," Emmett Laffey," chief executive at Laffey Fine Homes International, told RealtyTrac. "They are well aware that this buyer pool will only increase over the next 15 years."