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For Americans looking to buy retirement property, the historic real estate crash has created all sorts of opportunities. Home prices in 20 major metropolitan areas have declined roughly 28 percent from their 2006 peaks. Meanwhile, government efforts to ramp up demand for homes have significantly reduced mortgage costs for borrowers. Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates stood at 4.37 percent for the week ending September 16, only slightly above the 39-year lows reached two weeks earlier.
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8. Columbia, Mo.
With 102,000 residents, Columbia, Mo., is the home of the University of Missouri. On account of Columbia's affiliation with the university, area residents can enroll in continuing education programs and cheer on the Tigers at football or basketball games. The median home price in the area was $147,000 in the second quarter of 2010, a slight increase from a year earlier. Buyers who make a down payment of 20 percent--or $29,400--on a median-priced, Columbia-area home will have monthly payments of about $587.
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