To hear the national media tell it, homebuyers are fools to buy right now. Home prices have dropped 5 percent since October 2006. Our economic problems aren't over, so home prices are bound to drop further. Why would anyone catch that falling knife? But there are some markets out there that are making monkeys out of housing bears.
According to the National Association of Realtors, home prices are higher in 93 out of 150 metro areas.
Which markets are sizzling? Charlotte, North Carolina, San Francisco; Albuquerque; and Green Bay, Wis., among others.
But don't take NAR's word for it.
Forbes Magazine has noticed the red glow from those cities and others. The magazine just named 10 cities where home prices are going through the roof, including
Forbes: 2007 Best U.S. Housing Markets:
Salt Lake City, 246,700, up 14.1%
Charlotte, S.C., $220,000, up 11%
San Jose, Ca., $852,500, up 9.4%
San Francisco, Ca., $825,400, up 8.6%
Raleigh, N.C., $229,500, up 7.5%
Austin, Tx $188,200, up 7.2%
Pittsburgh, Pa., $127,700, up 6.1%
Seattle, Wa., $394,700, up 6%
San Antonio, Tx, $154,700, up 5.7%
Portland, Or., $299,700, up 5.2%
Realty Times has its own reporters telling us that a few of their markets are turning around. In Tucson, Realtor Barbara Lasky tells us that October pending home sales are up 26 percent over last year. Tulsa Realtor Curtis Kretchmar says home prices are up nearly 6 percent over 2006.
Not convinced? In 2004 and 2005, 40 percent of homebuyers were investors or second home buyers. Since then, investors have pulled out of the market, leaving places like Florida and Las Vegas cold. Colorado was also hit hard, but suddenly resorts are in again. Realtor Kim Stevenson says new ski-in, ski-out condominiums are selling as soon as they are available.
The point is that things change. And people are smart enough to jump on good opportunities when they see them.
Published: December 5, 2007
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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment.
Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's.
Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68.
In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.
Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans.
Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR
"The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors
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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment.
