Retirement Around the South - Alabama

■ Twenty-two of the top 30 healthiest homebuilding markets, as judged by continued building activity, are in the South, and three of these markets are in Alabama: Auburn-Opelika, ranked 12th; Huntsville, 22nd; and Tuscaloosa, 25th. Based on the size of the state’s population, Alabama has great relocation hotspots.

■ In Enterprise and New Brockton, Ronnie Gilley Properties (RGP) has launched several very affordable housing developments geared to empty-nesters and active retirees. Marketing to people from the Florida Panhandle, Fort Rucker in Dothan and Troy University in Troy, RGP is promoting Enterprise as a “Mayberry-style” small town with affordable prices, friendly people and moderate taxes.

■ On Alabama’s Bon Secour Bay, the Peninsula is a gated Gulf Shores community featuring 27 holes of championship golf, the area’s premier racquet and fitness club, a 400-acre nature preserve and walkover to a private beach and a wide variety of elegant homes and building sites for year-round living. With a mile of shoreline, about half of Peninsula’s 820 acres consists of nature preserves and interpretive walking trails. The community has been meticulously planned to retain as much of the property’s natural beauty as possible. In addition, the Peninsula is bordered by the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. Residential options at the Peninsula vary from high-style, low-maintenance patio homes and golf course villas to elegant custom homes and estate-size lots. For more information, please e-mail us at retiresouth@ hotmail.com with your contact information and Peninsula in the subject line.