7 Metro Areas Riding a Housing Bounce
Smart Money
By Lisa Scherzer
...The month-to-month improvement in these metropolitan areas can be attributed in part to the fact that they bore the brunt of the subprime mortgage debacle. "Some of these markets have fallen the hardest over the course of the recent housing implosion," says Gabriel. "It's certainly true for some West Coast markets and for Phoenix." Much of the interest from buyers, as well as investors, is at the low end of the market - and that is where the stabilization is occurring. Homes priced at $100,000 and lower have seen the most significant sales jumps in the Western part of the country, according to the National Association of Realtors.
San Diego, for example, was one of the most overpriced markets in the country, says Tracey Seslen, an assistant professor clinical finance at the University of Southern California. "The hardest-hit markets are naturally going to be the ones going to show stronger growth when things start to pick up again... It's a mean reversion," she says. As for a continued rebound, even if there's an increase in prices for one or two months, it doesn't mean we're on the road to recovery, Seslen says. California has a staggering unemployment rate - 12.2% as of September. "There are a lot of macro factors impacting people's ability to buy food, let alone a house," she says...