| With all the negative media attention real | | | | - McAllen, TX -- 4.3% |
| estate has been getting these days, one might | | | | |
| assume there weren't any appreciating or | | | | - Idaho Falls, ID -- 4.2% |
| growth markets left in the country. Nothing | | | | |
| could be farther from the truth. | | | | - Spokane, WA -- 4.2% |
| | | | |
| The problem with the news media is they tend | | | | - Glen Falls, NY -- 4.0% |
| to lump the subject of real estate into one | | | | |
| big bucket, possibly because it makes things | | | | - Salt Lake City, UT -- 3.9% |
| easier for them. This generalization glosses | | | | |
| over one of the most important concepts we | | | | - Grand Forks, ND -- 3.9% |
| teach other investors. That is real estate is | | | | |
| driven and affected by local market factors | | | | - San Antonio, TX -- 3.9% When local |
| far more than it is by national or global | | | | economic factors are strong, such as job |
| factors. | | | | growth and positive net migration, real |
| | | | estate tends to be resilient to broader |
| Having said that, here are the 20 top real | | | | economic factors, such as increasing interest |
| estate markets for 2008: | | | | rates and inflation. Consider these examples: |
| | | | |
| Appreciation Forecast* | | | | Salt Lake City, Utah experienced a median |
| | | | price increase of 10.5% by November 2007 over |
| - Yakima, WA -- 7.1% | | | | the previous 12 months. This was largely due |
| | | | to its population growth. |
| - Honolulu, HI -- 6.8% | | | | |
| | | | Austin-Round Rock, Texas saw home |
| - Salem, OR -- 6.5% | | | | appreciation of 10% by the third quarter of |
| | | | 2007, and a 29% increase over 5 years. Their |
| - Maui, HI -- 5.6% | | | | job market picked back up over the previous |
| | | | three years. |
| - Bismarck, ND -- 5.6% | | | | |
| | | | Idaho Falls located in eastern Idaho, close |
| - Manhattan, NY -- 5.2% | | | | to Jackson (Jackson Hole), WY saw an increase |
| | | | of 12% by the third quarter of 2007, and a |
| - Sun Valley, ID -- 5.1% | | | | 50% increase over 5 years. |
| | | | |
| - Biloxi, MS -- 5.1% | | | | Grand Junction, located in western Colorado |
| | | | near the Utah border had an appreciation rate |
| - Kauai, HI -- 4.9% | | | | of 14% by the third quarter of 2007, and a |
| | | | 66% increase over 5 years. |
| - Austin, TX -- 4.8% | | | | |
| | | | The point to remember is that there are |
| - Grand Junction, CO -- 4.5% | | | | always good investment opportunities |
| | | | regardless of what you hear in the media or |
| - Fargo, ND -- 4.5% | | | | the state our nation's economy. |
| | | | |
| - Mobile, AL -- 4.4% | | | | * housingpredictor. |
| | | | |