Consider Tampa when looking for a city to buy a vacation home. Leisure travel organization AAA considers Tampa as among the best vacation destinations and real estate firm Trulia points to Tampa as among the top ten cities where a home buyer can get the best deals.
In compiling its Best Cities to Buy a Vacation Home for 2011, CNBC looked at home prices in the cities considered by AAA as the best destinations for vacations and leisure and picked out those places where home prices have dropped the most.
Among U.S. cities, Tampa is the eighth best city to buy a vacation home based on Trulia’s compilation of home price drops and AAA’s vacation home ranking. In Tampa, the median home price in 2010 dropped to $131,600, a total drop of 33 percent since the April-June quarter of 2006 when prices peaked to $195,000. There are about 6,700 bank-owned homes for sale across the city for those who are looking for sharply-discounted homes.
Tampa is included in many lists of top cities for vacation and leisure because of the city’s unique theme parks, attractions, fine beaches and waterfront homes that are available at prices lower than in other cities. Additionally, there are a lot of homes for sale that have views of a lake, a river, the sea, or a protected wood land.
There are four other Florida cities included in the CNBC’s List of the Top Ten Cities for Buying a Vacation Home. Here are the complete rankings for the Florida cities, including their rates of median home price decrease:
- Rank # 2 Fort Myers — 54 percent
- Rank # 5 West Palm Beach — 38 percent
- Rank # 8 Tampa — 33 percent
- Rank # 9 Miami — 32 percent
- Rank # 10 Jacksonville — 31 percent
The median home prices for the five top-ranking Florida cities in 2010 were the following:
- Fort Myers — $118,000
- West Palm Beach — $177,700
- Tampa — $131,600
- Miami — $187,300
- Jacksonville — $134,200
The following affordable vacation homes are just four of the many beautiful properties available for sale in Tampa:
- A three-bedroom 1,572-square-foot home in St Pete Beach listed for $219,500. From this home, you can walk to the beach across a beautiful park and the Gulf Boulevard.
- A three-bedroom 1,207-square-foot home in St Pete Beach listed for $219,900. The beach is just a quick walk from this house.
- A three-bedroom 1,892-square-foot two-story beach house in Redington Shores priced at $224,900. From the second-floor balcony and private deck, you have a view of the beach and the sea.
- A three-bedroom 1,315-square-foot beach cottage in Indian Rocks Beach listed for $229,900. Enjoy the beach anytime of the year.
Explore these affordable vacation homes in Tampa with the tampa4U.com team.