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10 Cities w/ Fastest Rising Home Values....What Can We Learn?

We all know that home values nationwide are falling, but there are cities where home values are currently stable or even on the rise.

But which of these stubborn cities, with home values that refuse to decline with the rest of us, are rising the fastest?.....What can we learn from them? Is there some common trait that sets them apart as Real Estate RECESSION PROOF cities?

Below, I've reprinted a portion of a recent Money Magazine article (10 Fastest Growing Real Estate Markets, 05/13/08) which lists 10 cities with the fastest rising home values:

McAllen, Texas

12-month forecast: 4%

Median home price: $109,000

One year price change: 2.1%

Five year price change: 23.3%

Change in foreclosure rate: 23%

Rochester, New York

12-month forecast: 2.7%

Median home price: $121,000

One year price change: 3.4%

Five year price change: 20.1%

Change in foreclosure rate: 5%

Birmingham, Alabama

12-month forecast: 2.7%

Median home price: $156,000

One year price change: 2.9%

Five year price change: 29.4%

Change in foreclosure rate: 20%

Syracuse, New York

12-month forecast: 2.6%

Median home price: $126,000

One year price change: 0.8%

Five year price change: 29.5%

Change in foreclosure rate: 27%

Buffalo / Niagara Falls, New York

12-month forecast: 2.4%

Median home price: $105,000

One year price change: 1.6%

Five year price change: 24.5%

Change in foreclosure rate: 14%

New Orleans, Louisiana

12-month forecast: 2.2%

Median home price: $158,000

One year price change: 1%

Five year price change: 43.7%

Change in foreclosure rate: 49%

Scranton, Pennsylvania

12-month forecast: 2.2%

Median home price: $128,000

One year price change: 7.2%

Five year price change: 41.1%

Change in foreclosure rate: 8%

Grand Rapids, Michigan

12-month forecast: 1.9%

Median home price: $124,000

One year price change: -3%

Five year price change: 8.3%

Change in foreclosure rate: 37%

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

12-month forecast: 1.9%

Median home price: $170,000

One year price change: 5.7%

Five year price change: 38.3%

Change in foreclosure rate: 14%

El Paso, Texas

12-month forecast: 1.8%

Median home price: $134,000

One year price change: 6.9%

Five year price change: 51.9%

Change in foreclosure rate: 32%

No disrespect to any of these cities, but the National Real Estate market MUST be in a slump when a rather mundane list of cities like these have the fastest rising home pices in the U.S, especially with an average 1 year appreciation forecast of 2.44%.

However, there are other common traits to be seen here, especially with a closer look at a few key numbers:

Average home price of all 10 cities: $133,100

Average 5yr price change of all 10 cities: 31%

Average population of all 10 cities (2007): 218,749

Interestingly enough, all of these cities are in States that touch great bodies of water....no landlocked areas here.

So as Real Estate Professionals & homeowners, what can we learn from all this?

Oddly enough, it reminds me of the story of Goldilocks & the 3 Bears: she always picked the size that was "just right".

If the turbulent ups & downs of the Real Estate Industry aren't for you, then don't aim too high or too low.

Pick a city to live or work in that has a medium sized population, moderate home appreciation rates of 5 to 6% per year over the past few years, and modest home prices currently around $150k, give or take a little.....and water seems to help things out too.

Just don't expect to make a ton of money either, as the average household income for all 10 cities is: $29,269 per year

**For my next blog, I explore the possibility that illegal immigration may very well HELP support home values.**

-Peter H.

** Email me through my Activerain profile (subject line: HUTHUB UPGRADE) if you would like to join my network on HutHub.com (beta) and receive the following HutHub account upgrades FREE FOR LIFE:

1. FREE UNLIMITED Property Listings & UNLIMITED Business Profiles,

2. FREE TOP LISTED position in Search Results for ALL Property Listings & ALL Business Profiles,

3. FREE TOP BANNER positions for ALL Property Listings & ALL Business Profiles

Posted by Peter Hackett, HutHub.com - The National Real Estate Network on 08/13/2008 05:58 AM

Comments (17)

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17 Comments on 10 Cities w/ Fastest Rising Home Values....What Can We Learn?

AUG

2008

Good info. However I don't think I will be packing my bags anytime soon!

Peter,

Great article! My city is also experiencing rapid appreciation. We have two things working in our favor. One, we never experienced the bubble appreciation over the last few years. Secondly, our job market is really booming. Real Estate is truly local.

Most of the problems in my area have been caused by the tightened lending standards...

Billy Manders

Thanks for sharing this information. I know homes will start appreciating in our area as well.

Peter: In the Austin area, we have not seen significant value losses either. In fact, there are several areas of town that are still appreciating! As a result, the investors that I commonly work with continue to buy and invest here because we have a market that resists losses in value. On the other side of that coin, we don't have 25-30% gains in a year either, but give me slow and steady growth ANY DAY over the roller coaster that many areas of the country have been on in the past 5 years!

It surprises me about Buffalo, NY, then again, where do they have to go but up.

Wow. Some of those surprised me. A few I knew but some really surprised me.

Alexandria Virginia, which happens to be right across the bridge from DC and an easy commute by auto or METRO, has had an approx. 6.5% increase in SOLD prices July 07 to July 08.

Thanks for the pst. New Orleans surprised me at first but then it made sense after the devastation of Katrina must have bought prices way down

Interesting list. I know of someone that just sold a house very quickly in Penn. And, they felt they got a fair price.

Edie

Peter...not all areas are suffering, not all area homes, etc are dropping in value. Brokers are their own worse enemies and a public relations nightmare for the industry. Every market is not like California. To say a city refuses to decline in prices makes it sound like something is wrong with the place. Remember small town values too where you can buy a quality home in the $50,000 area. Think you are going to lose a home with a payment this small?

Thanks for sharing this list. Here in New Orleans and some what in Baton Rouge the decline was not so severer. This bump has been soften with the Damage of Hurricane Katrina. With our population about half for the entire region we have a long way to go before our prices go up.

Thanks for sharing this information. My area isn't on the list.. in fact home values are falling due to economic factors. This certainly presents a dilemma for sellers who have inflated ideas as to the value of their home. It just isn't there... and we're seeing the cumulative days on market increasing.

Here in Sarasota Florida property values have fallen drastically. Since we are on the Gulf of MExico our property values will come back, maybe not to the high of July 2005. Right now values are close to 2002 and it is a great time to buy.

Interesting....nope, not everyone is going to make the legendary "killings" in real estate that were once popular...and no one is encouraged to invest to lose money...but even at a slower rate of appreciation....first timers need to know, it is far better than throwing money at a landlord.

Our average price is higher, but you can definitely still get a really nice house or condo here for $133000, in the 15th largest city in the US. Columbus Ohio (and surrounding cities and towns) is a quite affordable and stable market. Average household income tends to be quoted from the low $40000s.

It's nice to live in a place where housing is very available and there's not a lot of downward pressure on salaries. We are the only major city in Ohio that has not shed population in recent years.

Thank you everyone for your comments.....Like most of you, when I first looked at this list, I was surprised to see a lot of these cities. Its really interesting to me how in good times, many of these cities would be lost in the shuffle & overshadowed by the appreciation rates in other, more well-known cities.....but now that many major Real Estate markets are twisted around, these humble cities are emerging as shining stars. Slow & steady wins the race yet again.

-Peter H.

AUG

Hello. We think in generalities, but we live in detail. I am from Guinea-Bissau and learning to speak English, tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "Colorsuckr extracts color schemes from photoswindows upgraders guide the simple versionadobe discontinues free desktop photoshop, pushes photoshop." Thanks for the help :(, Tamah.

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