Best Housing Market now? West Virginia. I'm serious.

[SirNitram]

Link

[quote]In April, many of the nation’s hardest-hit housing markets during the downturn saw prices depreciate at an ever-faster pace, according to the LoanPerformance Home Price Index released by First American CoreLogic on Wednesday.

Over the past 12 months, two southern California metro areas — Riverside/San Bernardino/Ontario and Los Angeles/Long Beach/Glendale — posted the worst annual price drops, at -24.59 percent and -23.75 percent, respectively. The Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida area wasn’t far behind, with prices falling 22.87 percent from April 2007 to April 2008, First American CoreLogic said.

Among top core-based statistical areas tracked by the real estate information service, Hawaii’s Honululu posted the best 12-month price performance, rising 7.15 percent; Austin-Round Rock, Texas posted a gain of 6.14 percent, as well.

Among the 34 top CSBAs reported on for April, however, only six showed a positive 12-month pricing trend, underscoring just how widespread pricing pressure has become in many of the nation’s largest housing markets.

But the hottest market right now? It’s not found in the beach-bound locales within states like California and Florida, the typical real-estate hot spots. Nope. Try someplace a little more rugged — like West Virginia.

“Energy-rich sector states are experiencing the fastest price increases. West Virginia is leading the nation in home price appreciation, followed by Montana, Utah and Texas,â€

[LadyTevar]

I have no words..........

[The Cleric]

From $20,000 to $25,000?! SIGN ME UP :P !!

[General Havoc]

The median home price in San Francisco is somewhere between $100,000,000,000 and sixteen immortal souls. WV has a long way to go, and that's probably a good thing.

[LadyTevar]

One reason we have so many houses available for sale is the Chemical Plants have been down-sizing, and more than one of them has closed totally. That left a lot of 3-4bedroom homes up for sale as the employees had to relocate.

There's also the deceased senior citizens whose far-flung children are now trying to sell the family home so they can split the money for inheritance.

WV housing is cheap compared to other states ... but the average hourly pay is a good deal lower as well. Low Wages = Low Price Housing, as you have to go by what the market will bear.

[The Cleric]

Exactly. While you can BUY a house for cheaper, you can't exactly make the money to compensate. Unless you can work from home regardless of where home is, or commute by plane.