Every summer bucket list includes a beach house. But if you hope to graduate from renting a sandy retreat for the week to outright owning a home by the sea, can you afford it? Realtor.com’s affordable beach towns rankings prove you absolutely can—if you know where to look.

The very best beach town for bikini-slim budgets is Pascagoula, MS, a Gulf Shore escape where the typical listing will run you a mere $165,610. Not bad, right? In fact, 11 of the 12 picks on the list boast asking prices below the national median of $431,250.

• Pascagoula, MS: $165,610
• Deerfield Beach, FL: $211,750
• Atlantic City, NJ: $242,450
• Port Richey, FL: $254,925
• Port Lavaca, TX: $292,000
• Myrtle Beach, SC: $299,000
• Ocean Springs, MS: $302,500
• Corpus Christi, TX: $310,000
• Surfside Beach, SC: $310,925
• Long Beach, WA: $403,188
• Ocean Shores, WA: $409,900
• Ocean City, MD: $454,500

But… buying the house is just the start. Rising insurance and maintenance costs have forced many investors to question whether beach homes are too big a gamble.

“Beach homes used to be a cakewalk, but now it’s a whole different ball game,” says Levi Rodgers, a retired Green Beret and real estate broker in San Antonio. “My property on the Gulf went from $3,200 a year for insurance to over $11K, and that’s if you can even get coverage without bizarre exclusions. Throw in new flood zone redeterminations and wild HOA fee hikes, and your profits are wiped out in an instant.”

“Honestly, coastal property makes me more nervous than my first million-dollar listing, despite loving beachfront real estate,” agrees Los Angeles real estate agent Wesley Kang. “I’ve seen changes that would shock most investors. Insurance costs broke another record at my Marina del Rey listing yesterday. The owner just got hit with a $68K annual premium, up from $15K last year, while his neighbor two blocks inland pays $7K.”

In addition to hurricanes, slow-and-steady beach erosion has caused some homes to simply collapse.

“My Malibu client just spent his entire summer rental income on mandatory seawall repairs,” says Kang. “Another had to install $100K worth of water barriers just to keep his insurance.”

Is a beach home a good investment?

Although owning a beach home isn’t the easy, dreamy investment that perhaps it used to be, some investors still think it’s worth it—with some changes to their strategy.

“I haven’t sold yet. I just had to adapt,” says Rodgers. “I cut the rental period down to high-season months, raised rates by 22%, ended low-season bookings, and promoted high-end upgrades to make it work. You have to run it like a hospitality business now, not a passive rental. The ROI is still there, but only if you are actively managing risk, costs, and guest experience. Otherwise, you’re just financing someone else’s vacation.”

“Beach properties are now riskier,” agrees Idaho-based real estate investor Daniel Roberts, who has reinvented his approach to stay solvent. “We improved our rental by presenting the property as a luxury destination, adding concierge services with dining, boat tours, and fitness sessions,” he says. “With this rental arrangement, we earned 18% more on rental income last year compared to the previous year. However, our profits have decreased a little since we now pay more each month for maintenance and insurance.”

If you’re shopping for a beach house and hoping for a deal, it may pay to search a bit inland for cheaper properties and insurance rates. Elevation is also your friend. “My elevated properties keep attracting loads of cash because people finally understand storm surge math,” says King.

Certain oceanfront areas are also experiencing a steep drop in prices—like Florida.

“It’s a great time to buy if you’re looking for opportunities as an investor in areas like Florida, which saw a huge run-up of people heading there during the pandemic, but their jobs have required them to return to the office,” says Florida real estate agent Cara Ameer. “If you’re in the market for a vacation property that you can rent out and possibly use as a second home, there are an abundance of choices.”

Bottom line: Beach home bargains can still be found as long as you check the fine print, so don’t be afraid to slap on some sunscreen and shop around.

Apartment-hunting season is about to peak. The first week of June typically marks the busiest time of the year for rentals based on Zillow traffic activity and rental applications. Plus, renter households are now at a record high and rising, so the search is more cutthroat than usual. Listings that offered perks like one month’s free rent dropped from 40% in March to under 35% in April as landlords realized they hold the cards.

They’ve graduated. Now what? Realtor.com’s best cities for college grads offer plenty of ideas on where to move, based on ample entry-level job opportunities plus affordable rentals. The top city? Austin, TX, where the median rent of $1,504 per month eats up just 18.9% of the typical income, leaving plenty of cash left over for pub crawls and 2am pizza.

Summer vacation is off to a slow start. Summer rental bookings have been sluggish, with occupancy and average daily rates down from this time last year, according to short-term rental data site Beyond. Renters are also waiting longer to book, averaging just 26 days in advance—a 12% decrease year over year. But occupancy and revenue for the July Fourth weekend look promising, so it may just be a matter of time before the short-term rental market gets going at full steam.

Real estate prices are still rising. Even though the housing market is moving at its slowest pace in years, national home prices rose 3.4% in March compared to a year ago, according to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller. This index, which is watched closely since it’s designed to eliminate distortions based on size or types of homes sold, shows prices are at last down from the 4% price gain seen the previous month. But it’s clear that homebuyers still face a grueling and expensive uphill battle.

Starter homes are shrinking. Since 2017, the median home size has been trending smaller, but prices have not followed, according to data firm Cotality. Why? Because building costs have risen year over year by double-digit percentages. As a result, the income required to buy even a modest “starter home” has risen from $49,008 in 2020 to $101,376 in 2024, according to a National Association of Realtors analysis.

A recession won’t stop most homebuyers. A survey by Realtor.com found that although 15.8% of buyers would be less likely to buy a home if a recession hits, about 30% say a recession would make them even more likely to purchase property. Over half said it would have no impact at all on their homebuying plans.

When Shannon Moore turned 50, she got divorced, sold her house, and funneled her $2 million in life savings and real estate investments into an abandoned campground in Hayesville, NC. On these wooded 11.55 acres, she built Magical Mountain Resorts, a whimsical village of tiny cottages inspired by Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, and other storytime characters. Here’s what inspired this epic adventure and how she put it together.

What inspired you to create this unique campground of tiny homes? “I owned a real estate brokerage in my home state of Florida. When I turned 50, I sold everything I owned, got divorced, and bought this campground. I saw the ‘for sale by owner’ listing on Zillow. I had never been to Hayesville before, but after seeing the listing, I flew up the next day. A fellow real estate investor flew up with me and said the property was so dilapidated that he wouldn’t offer on it. He felt it needed too much work. [Nonetheless,] I put in a full-price offer.”

How much did you spend to purchase it? “I spent $290,000 on 11.55 acres, five tiny homes, a large house, and a pavilion. I brought in an additional tiny home and two double-decker buses. The homes were barely standing, and all the utilities and roads needed renovating, but I took a chance because I had a vision. I wanted an enchanting village with fairy gardens, mushroom statues with polka dots, and twinkling lights in the trees.”

How much did it cost to renovate this camp and bring your vision to life? “I did go quite over budget, at around $2 million spent so far. I paid cash from selling my home and investments in Florida. I also downsized my living a lot. I went from a home on the beach in Florida worth around $650K to a vintage flamingo-themed trailer worth $10,000. If I were going to make this work, I had to make sacrifices.”

How did this investment pan out? “I just started my third year open on March 23, 2025. I’m still building the campground out, so I put any profit right back into the project.”

What did you learn from this experience, and what advice do you have for others who want to take a chance building their own real estate dream from scratch? “I learned to follow your dreams and not wait. I would also advise being on-site while big projects are happening. I lost a lot of money and had to redo a lot of things that I wouldn’t have had to redo had I been close by.”

Click here to learn more about Shannon’s magical escape and see more pics—including Walt Disney’s old bus.

Everyone’s been buzzing lately about how real estate has been turning into more of a “buyer’s market.” But what does that mean, exactly? In a nutshell, it means there are more properties for sale than there are homebuyers willing to purchase them, which gives buyers the upper hand.

Granted, most homebuyers out there today may not feel all that powerful since they’re also cowed by high mortgage rates. Still, in terms of wheeling and dealing, buyers are certainly in a better position now than they were during the pandemic, when a strong seller’s market reigned. Back then, mortgage rates were below 4%, and making a purchase was tough in a whole different way: Open houses were packed like a hot new nightclub. Bidding wars pushed prices hundreds of thousands over asking. Today, however, the party’s over for sellers, who must now bend over backward to entice buyers to bite, offering price cuts and other concessions.

Although the overall US housing market is turning more buyer-friendly, it varies a lot by area. Southern states like Florida and Texas are largely buyer’s markets, but much of the Northeast and Midwest remain seller’s markets. Here are some maps that highlight where it’s a buyer’s or seller’s market—and how to tell if you’re in one or the other.