Housing Markets Where Prices Have Risen And Fallen The Most

Since the Great Recession, it has taken the economy some time to rebound. Among the hardest hit sector was the housing market, where prices took a steep nose dive in cities across the country, especially in some areas that built out too much inventory such as Las Vegas.

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance took a look at housing market prices and came up with its list of the top 10 housing markets where prices are rising, as well as the top 10 housing markets where prices are falling the most in 2014.

The top 10 housing markets with prices that are rising, per Kiplinger’s:

1. San Francisco Bay, Calif.
2. Central Valley, Calif.
3. Riverside-San Bernandino, Calif.
4. Warren, Mich.
5. Boston, Mass.
6. Santa Rosa, Calif.
7. Santa Barbara, Calif.
8. Myrtle Beach, S.C.
9. Ann Arbor, Mich.
10. Las Vegas, Nev.

Regarding the top spot in the Bay Area, Kiplinger’s said the rise has been thanks to another tech boom in Bay Area locales like San Jose, even though some purchasers are looking at cheaper locales throughout the region.

“Demand has outstripped supply in the nation’s most-expensive housing market for decades. This is what happens when high population growth meets geographic and regulatory constraints on new housing construction. Yet another tech boom fueled by an influx of social media companies to the Bay Area (San Francisco, Oakland, Vallejo) are again driving up home prices, which have regained all but a small percentage (-1.7%) of the value lost since the peak of the market in 2006.

“Workers seeking more-affordable housing have pushed up prices in the East Bay, including Oakland and Vallejo, although they have a ways to go to recapture value lost because of the foreclosure crisis and Vallejo’s bankruptcy in 2008.”

As for Kiplinger’s list of top 10 areas where housing prices are falling, it runs across much of the eastern and southern sections of the U.S.

1. Fayetteville, N.C.
2. Tallahassee, Fla.
3. Worcester, Mass.
4. Fort Smith, Ark.
5. Utica-Rome, N.Y.
6. Erie, Pa.
7. Little Rock, Ark.
8. Hagerstown, Md.
9. Peoria, Ill.
10. Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.

Regarding the top spot in Fayetteville, Kiplinger’s said the military city is simply running late with catching up to the national economic trends.

“Two years late to the housing crash, Fayetteville is running about three years behind the recovery in comparison to the country as a whole. Its housing market is insulated from national trends and uniquely defined by the huge presence of Fort Bragg, located northwest of the city.”

For a look at what was predicted for this year and what could still pan out during the last few months of the year, check out this Inquisitr article from January.

[Image via Flickr Creative Commons]