Savvy real estate shoppers find outstanding bargains in the collapsed housing market's wake. The desirable, but overvalued, properties of 2006 became the best deals for potential home buyers in 2009.
"What we have seen is that those markets that became significantly overvalued [during the housing boom] are right now very undervalued," Jeannine Cataldi, senior economist and manager of IHS Global Insight's Regional Real Estate Service, reported to US News.
Even for people to whom investment properties seem out of reach, the current real estate market provides abundant opportunities. Choose the city that best fits your investment needs. From optimal locations to purchase rental properties to a luxurious vacation homes, these US cities have it.
With median home prices at $160,000 and a projected increase in home values, Atlanta properties are a great investment. Atlanta, GA is also home of the Atlanta Braves and other diverse cultural highlights, including America's first professional dance company, the Atlanta Ballet, and a world renown orchestra. Atlanta boasts an affordable cost of living and expansive industry opportunities in entertainment, hospitality and tourism,automotive and manufacturing, and aerospace technology.
For people interested in scooping up great foreclosure deals, Denver, CO is the place to do it. Denver's recent 10% increase in mortgage foreclosures is attributed to layoffs in telecommunications, a once expanding industry that encouraged a building boom in Denver, thus creating homes for which there is no longer a demand. If, however, either banking and finance or international trade is one's preferred industry, consider relocating to the "Wall Street of the Rockies" with a sweet foreclosure deal.
Houston maybe the only city left relatively unaffected by the US housing crash, with real estate values increasing since 2005. With thriving technology and health care sectors in an all-around stable state economy, job growth projections point to a future surge in home appreciation and value. The median price in Houston for single family homes is $160,000, not bad for a booming, business-friendly college city, with property-renting young professionals and college students abound.
Don't be fooled by Oklahoma's country town image: Oklahoma City is haven for business in America. Oklahoma City's unemployment rate is among the lowest in the country, and start up companies thrive here. "Businesses come in because the tax situation is favorable. They bring in jobs, which brings in workers, which brings in homeowners," reported Dawn Kennedy, the CEO of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Association of Realtors. With balmy weather and a wealth of parks and leisure activities, experience Southern hospitality while becoming acquainted with residents who enjoy a median home value of $105,000.
Real estate buyers are finding exceptional deals in Panama City, right now. Property costs are low compared with the rest of Florida, with spacious condos on the beach selling on the low range for as little as $350,000, an approximate 30% reduction in price for what the same beachfront condos went for three years ago. What a bargain for a lovely spot on Florida's sunny southwest coast, boarding the Gulf of Mexico. Not to mention that, according to CNNMoney, the projected five-year property value in Panama City tops 70 percent.