[Slayven]

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/th...right-now.html

You wouldn’t be alone: investment-homes sales jumped 64.5% from 2010 to 2011, with investors making up 27% of all single-family, condo and co-op purchases last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. And it’s no wonder why. Home affordability is at the highest level ever in the 42 years that NAR has been tracking it. Nationally, home prices are down more than 30% from their 2006 peak. Mortgage rates hover near all-time lows, with 30-year fixed loans just under 4%. And while the 10-year Treasury note yields around 2% and a 1-year CD an even stingier 1% or less, housing investments, specifically homes purchased as rental properties, return a 6.3% yield on average, according to Goldman Sachs. So you have cash or financing to make a purchase, you’re aware of the responsibilities that come with homeownership, and despite the woes continuing to hinder a full-on housing market recovery, you believe in brick and mortar investments. Now comes the tricky part: where to buy that house. “A lot of what we read is national but you have to take housing down to the local level and look at the reasons why a market may be turning around, may be a good place to buy,” says Steve Berkowitz, chief executive of Realtor.com, a Campbell, Calif.-based home listing site. To determine the best places to invest in a real estate purchase now, Realtor.com created a list which sorted through February housing and jobs data for 146 Metropolitan Areas and Metropolitan Divisions (cities and their neighboring suburbs) across the U.S. The company, which boasts millions of home listings filtered from over 900 Multiple Listing Services, looked at listing price data, sales data and inventory trends such as the amount of homes available in each market and number of days on market. Realtor.com also utilized the peak-to-trough home price index from Fiserv Case-Shiller, which tracks how much home prices have fallen in the past five years and can serve as an indicator of whether they have bottomed. Lastly, unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics were factored into the rankings, since jobs (or lack thereof) are a leading indicator of housing demand. If you want to buy low, foreclosure-riddled Tucson, Ariz., may be just the place. It ranks No. 1 on this list. “In the case of Tucson, you are looking at foreclosures dropping back quite a bit coupled with a stable employment market,” says Berkowitz. The area has a 7.8% unemployment rate, a tad lower than the national average of 8.2%, helped by the presence of sizable employers in the recession-resistant education and government sectors, including the University of Arizona, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and the U.S. Army Intelligence Center. All of this suggests Tucson’s housing market may be bottoming. Here are the top 5 cities to buy a home:

5. Fort Worth, TX

Median List Price: $160,000 (up 8% y-o-y) Inventory Level: 8,242 homes (down 26.5% y-o-y) Median Days On Market: 79 days (down 19% y-o-y) Price Drop From Peak: 4.7% Unemployment Rate: 7.1%

4.Baltimore, MD

Median List Price: $239,500 (down 3% y-o-y) Inventory Level: 13,053 homes (down 25.5% y-o-y) Median Days On Market: 120 days (down 4% y-o-y) Price Drop From Peak: 22.3% Unemployment Rate: 7.5%

3. Kansas City, MO

Median List Price: $134,150 (up 0.3% y-o-y) Inventory Level: 7,539 homes (down 21% y-o-y) Median Days On Market: 103 days (down 15% y-o-y) Price Drop From Peak: 8.8% Unemployment Rate: 7.7%

2. Austin, TX

Median List Price: $229,500 (up 12% y-o-y) Inventory Level: 8,329 homes for sale (down 19% y-o-y) Median Days On Market: 77 (down 21% y-o-y) Price Drop From Peak: 2.9% Unemployment Rate: 6.1%

1. Tucson, AZ

Median List Price: $170,000 (up 3% y-o-y) Inventory Level: 6,600 homes for sale (down 23% y-o-y) Median Days On Market: 86 (down 12% y-o-y) Price Drop From Peak: 45.1% Unemployment Rate: 7.8%

[Jason's Ultimatum]

And all shitty places to live. Forth Worth? LOL.

[Rusty Shackleford]

No mild weather cities huh. I guess you get what you pay for.

[yankeeforever2]

Baltimore really, has the writer of the article ever been to Baltimore?

[GK86]

Three 'hot as shit' cities. I wouldn't want to live in any of those places.

[thezerofire]

Note, it says best places to buy a home as an investment, not necessarily to live in.

[ruuk]

All shitholes. They might be good places for investors to buy real estate, but they're terrible places to exist as an American.

[Flink]

All shitholes. They might be good places for investors to buy real estate, but they're terrible places to exist as an American.

Austin isn't a shithole.

[Telosfortelos]

I don't think I've ever heard Austin referred to as a "shithole".

[Pagusas]

All shitholes. They might be good places for investors to buy real estate, but they're terrible places to exist as an American.

Have you ever been to Austin? Shithole is the last word id use to describe it, its a very well done city with lots to do and fairly good weathered people.

[ZZMitch]

One of those cities is not like the others.

[daw840]

No one wants to live on the MO side of KC.....horrible area

[Brettison]

Shithole is a strong word to use for most of that list. I'm not saying they are all ideal, but just because they aren't the greatest doesn't mean they go to shithole status either.

[SolKane]

And all shitty places to live. Forth Worth? LOL.

Austin is a shitty place to live?

[tapedeck]

All shitholes. They might be good places for investors to buy real estate, but they're terrible places to exist as an American.

Someone's never been to Austin.

[Mr. Serious Business]

Baltimore has its nice parts but they won't exactly be the cheaper parts.

Austin would be a nice place to live even with the upcoming summer heat. But I'd have to stock up on shorts.

[Hasphat'sAnts]

Austin, TX is amazing. You people shut the hell up.

[Jason's Ultimatum]

Austin is a shitty place to live?

I've been to Austin. Nothing special. I guess my ideal places are in the north east.

EDIT-Bear in mind it's been about 17 years since I was in Austin.

[EnderWiggles]

At least if you move to Baltimore, you won't have to live there very long.

[daw840]

You know what, I take that comment about KCMO back. No one wants to live in 80% of KCMO. If you go to the southern portion it's actually very nice and affordable.

[SolKane]

I've been to Austin. Nothing special. I guess my ideal places are in the north east. EDIT-Bear in mind it's been about 17 years since I was in Austin.

Nothing special is very different than "shitty place to live." Austin is almost always ranked high on quality of life indices, and it's not because it's a shitty place to live. We're not talking about Gary, Indiana here.

[Aselith]

Arent't those numbers largely meaningless without considering the size and quality of the housing? I mean one city could have a majority of one bedroom houses on the market and obviously that number will be much lower than a city with mostly minimansions on the market.

[teh_pwn]

Austin's property taxes are 1/3 the amount of rent alone.

Unless the article means buying and not paying mortgage interest with the illusion of ownership.

[Zoe]

Nooo, Austin needs to stop appearing in these lists. Too many people moving here :(

[teh_pwn]

Nooo, Austin needs to stop appearing in these lists. Too many people moving here :(

Seriously. And the infrastructure doesn't seem to be keeping up. My 1.5 mile commute to work somehow takes nearly 15 minutes now sometimes. They're going to make a toll lane on Mopac. Probably will make things worse for anyone not in the toll lane.

Doesn't help when you have morons designing things like Arbor Walk.

[East Lake]

Shithole is a strong word to use for most of that list. I'm not saying they are all ideal, but just because they aren't the greatest doesn't mean they go to shithole status either.

That's how I feel. Worst is people who've traveled to city X for a couple days and deemed it a shithole. It's not like a movie where you know all there is to know about a place in two hours.

[Redux]

Austin, TX doesn't have a pro sports team, therefore its a shithole.

[Draft]

The southeast corner of Baltimore is really very nice. Everywhere else ranges from suspect to dangerous hellscape. A house in the nice corner is running at least $300k and probably averaging a bit more like $400, so the garbage houses in the not good areas are helping out that average.

[ElectricBlue187]

I would not want to live in any of those places except maybe KC, google interwebs is a strong pull

[Pastry]

Austin, TX doesn't have a pro sports team, therefore its a shithole.

It's okay. The best team in the NBA is only an hour away.

[Zoe]

Seriously. And the infrastructure doesn't seem to be keeping up. My 1.5 mile commute to work somehow takes nearly 15 minutes now sometimes. They're going to make a toll lane on Mopac. Probably will make things worse for anyone not in the toll lane. Doesn't help when you have morons designing things like Arbor Walk.

620 was like the best kept secret when I first moved out here, but ever since Concordia moved, traffic has been getting progressively worse. I'm really lucky that I have to go against traffic. I've heard Avery Ranch is even worse.

[CounterSeal]

Looking at those prices, I feel like such a sucker for paying almost $600k for a standard 3BR/2BA house in the Bay Area...

[Javaman]

There's about to be another flood of foreclosures now that the settlement has been decided in the robo signing case. Also interest rates have nowhere to go but up (which will depress prices as it increases). Personally I wouldn't tough realestate with a ten foot pole right now. I think it's going to stay stagant for the next decade.

[Axalon]

Looking at those prices, I feel like such a sucker for paying almost $600k for a standard 3BR/2BA house in the Bay Area...

Location does a lot to the price of real estate.

[Archer]

Baltimore.

[Timedog]

Whoa, Austin? Austin fucking rules.

[Mammoth Jones]

I'm thinking about moving to Atlanta once I'm married. Anyone live in Atlanta? Thoughts?

[UltimaPooh]

No one wants to live on the MO side of KC.....horrible area

Are you the same dude who lives on the Kansas side who think the plaza is constantly filled with flash mobs out to kill you?

[Stahsky]

Some weird Austin hate in here

[Power Glove]

It's easy to pay the bills here in Silicon Hills.

[Bay Maximus]

I would love to live in Austin. Every time I've went there it's been a pleasant experience.

Everybody move to Austin!

Edit: Also, wouldn't live in Kansas City or Fort Worth (Dallas) for free.

[cashman]

I drove through Tucson like a month ago. Seemed like a decent town.

Austin, TX doesn't have a pro sports team, therefore its a shithole.

The longhorns pretty much count as a pro sports team.

[Bboy AJ]

I'm thinking about moving to Atlanta once I'm married. Anyone live in Atlanta? Thoughts?

Shit hole, unless you're uncultured and unsophisticated. It's also very racially segregated. Traffic sucks because there's poor infrastructure. Decent food and shopping, though.

[effingvic]

austin is the only place in that place id ever consider moving to. during winter time at least

the city is pretty small and shit gets boring real quick, but its a pleasant place to go time to time

[exarkun]

Whoa, Austin? Austin fucking rules.

Unfortunately, their city planning committee (as was said here) are a bunch of people older than 50 who don't want the city to expand and thus have been fighting the growth of the city's infrastructure tooth and nail. Though, that can only help property values in the city.

They have always hated the student culture (evident). They are clearly overwhelmed. They're lucky the minorities and poor live in this shitty housing outside the city/at riverside or else it be another problem they wouldn't understand how to solve. Biggest problem? City council and the planners have fallen in love with the young professionals that have moved en masse to the city from other big cities (the Cali peeps, New Yawk peeps, and Philly bros). Which again helps property values. But they are bending over backwards to accommodate them (see clearing out of old east parts of austin). I think big changes are coming, but we'll see. Yet somehow Austin is still weird. I hope they keep it that way.

And lol at Fort Worth. Enjoy that commute. Though this is more about investment, and I can see how that can be true. Not everyone can live in Dallas.

[Stinkles]

Austin is awesome. The rest are atrocious. Fort Worth shouldn't even count as a human habitat.

[Piggus]

I drove through Tucson like a month ago. Seemed like a decent town. The longhorns pretty much count as a pro sports team.

I love the Longhorns and all (and Sergio Kindle is a family friend) but the last couple years haven't been kind to y'all. :p

[Tedesco!]

No one wants to live on the MO side of KC.....horrible area

Funny, we just bought a place in Lee's Summit.

[vaelic]

And all shitty places to live. Forth Worth? LOL.

how is Austin shitty?

[Kwixotik]

Baltimore on a "good" list

lol