If you look at the bottom of this page you will notice that there are areas in the United States where home prices are seemingly lower than in Costa Rica. However, buyers and retirees need to consider the following. The reasons Costa Rica’s prices have remained constant is due to the popularity of the country, its economic stability and the fact that there wasn’t a huge crisis as in the States. First, subprime mortgages do not exist here and Costa Rica is non-leveraged market. Only some costal developments were affected because banks would no longer finance them or the projects were not well funded and depended only on the next sale to stay in business. Below is a list of the areas with affordable housing in the United States. Most of these places have very hot summers and/or cold winters. The advantage that Costa Rica has over all of the cities on the list is that the country has year-round spring-like weather in its Central Valle, the local real estate market is thriving and should continue to do so with good financing being available, property taxes a much lower than in the U.S., the quality of life is excellent, medical care is affordable for retirees or anyone else who wants to live here plus a whole lot more. 1. Indianapolis Median home price: $102,000 2. Dayton, Ohio Median home price: $81,000 3. Lakeland, Fla. Median home price: $85,000 4. Modesto, Calif. Median home price: $127,000 Modesto would make the perfect poster child for California's housing bust. Much to those buyers' dismay, once the bubble burst the prices kept falling. Home prices in Modesto have sunk 67% from their 2005 peak to the current median of $127,000, almost $40,000 below the national level. Foreclosures still plague Modesto. The metro area had the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation during the first quarter of 2102, with foreclosure paperwork filed on one out of every 60 homes. 5. Grand Rapids, Mich. Median home price: $100,000 6. Buffalo, N.Y. Median home price: $94,000 7. Ogden, Utah Median home price: $166,000 8. Syracuse, N.Y. Median home price: $106,000 .9. Akron, Ohio Median home price: $96,000 10. Cincinnati Median home price: $110,000