10 Hottest Housing Markets in 2014

CNN Money has ranked the top 10 housing markets for 2014.  Did your city make the list?  Of course, this is just speculation at this point since we haven't finished February yet.  None the less, it is a good sign for the cities that made the list.  Here is the top 10:

1.  Oakland, CA
2.  Fort Worth, TX
3.  New Orleans, LA
4.  Richmond, VA
5.  Hartford, CT
6.  Tampa, FL
7.  BALTIMORE, MD
8.  Birmingham, AL
9. New York, NY
10. Memphis, TN                                        

I applaud all the cities on the list, but would like to specifically talk about Baltimore since that is the market I'm in.  According to the research done for this article, home prices in Baltimore climbed close to 5% for the 12 months leading up to September 2013.  Home prices are forecasted to climb an additional 8% by September 2014.  

What is the reason for the rise in home prices in Baltimore?  Again, there is a lot of speculation, buy I believe that prices fell so far in 2008 when the market crashed that the only way they could go was up.  Baltimore is located about 40 miles north of Waqshington, DC, 90 miles south of Philadelphia and a little further south of New York.  This region is highly populated and homes were in serious demand back in 2006-2007.  But when things went south for the housing market, this region suffered more than most.  Now is the time for things to circle back around and this region will go on the upswing.  If you look at the list you will notice that the other cities listed were also very hard hit when the market crashed.  

What does this mean for homeowners in Baltimore?  Well, hopefully as home prices rise less and less homeowners will be under water in their mortgage.  We will also start to see less short sales and people will start to build equity in their homes again.  It's too early to tell, but the signs are promising.

I hope the market in your area is also on the move upward.  We have weathered the storm, now we can purchase a home again and believe that it is a good investment.

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