Blogs

10. Seattle, Wash.

Though Seattle doesn't suffer from oversupply, inventory last year doubled to 1.8%, from 0.9%, which would be more problematic if 1.8% wasn't the eighth lowest rate in the country. Seattle will get a small boost from conforming loan adjustments, and trouble from the uptick in inventory will likely be mitigated by strong job growth (2.8%, sixth best in the nation) and a 42% decrease in new home construction.

9. Charlotte, N.C.

While prices here continue to climb both on a square foot and median price level, there was a slight increase in unsold inventory last year. Still, strong job growth and in migration bode well for sellers.

8. Providence, R.I.

Though prices here are falling, vacancy rates are extremely low and falling further (dropping to 1.6% at the end of 2007, the sixth lowest rate in the nation, from 1.8% at the end of 2006). Combine that with a 42% cut in inventory, and you're looking at a market that may slump due to job loss (1% this year) but isn't going to turn into a buyers' market anytime soon.

7. Denver, Colo.

Overbuilding and a high foreclosure rate stymie Denver's housing market, which last year saw a 6.3% drop in prices. Still, area homes are selling, and the vacancy rate, while still at a pro-buyer 3%, last year shrunk by 20%. The 49% drop in construction starts, the 12th largest cut in the country, and 2% rise in new jobs, the ninth highest rate in the country, are good news for sellers.

6. San Antonio, Texas

Prices here rose 7.9% last quarter, based on National Association of Realtor estimates, and its foreclosure rate was only 1% (problem markets like Atlanta have a rate of 2.5% and crashing markets like Detroit are over 4%). What makes San Antonio a good place for sellers is that jobs are growing by 3%, the third highest in the country, and construction starts have been slashed by 42%.

5. Kansas City, Mo.

Prices in Kansas City reached highs in the second and third quarters of 2007, before dipping in Q4. As the city gets its inventory problems under control--the number of unsold, vacant homes fell by 40% last year--its 2.5% vacancy rate should ease, allowing sellers to benefit from a 2% rise in new jobs.

4. Austin, Texas

In this affordable Lone Star State market, construction rates are in line with job growth and population increases, and as a result vacancies have remained steady at a healthy 1.5%. The Austin metro area boasts the country's fastest job growth (4.1%), based on Bureau of Labor Statistic records. The city won't benefit from the change in conforming loan rates, but the market isn't so overextended that it desperately needs better access to capital.

3. Salt Lake City, Utah

Through the housing boom, Las Vegas and Phoenix lead the nation in job growth, largely as the result of a flood of construction-related jobs. In the bust's wake, jobs were lost, and Salt Lake City, whose non-housing-reliant economy grew, surged past both. A 3% annual job growth rate, paired with declining inventory (2.7% to 2.2%) and one of the nation's sharpest declines in construction (despite not having an overwhelming inventory glut), makes this market a good one for sellers.

2. San Francisco, Calif.

The city by the bay's conforming loan limit recently jumped from $417,000 to the maximum $729,750, which makes credit a simpler affair for many of the city's home buyers. In 2006, the market felt a softening that pushed vacancy rates up to 2.4%, but it's since firmed as a result of a 56% cut in construction, which has cut vacancy rates in half. The increased access to credit, thanks to the new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac limits, and the lack of available properties plays to sellers' interests.

1. San Jose, Calif.

In what is largely one of the least affordable markets in the country, sellers continue to see high returns from real estate as tech money and venture capital money lift that economy. The advantage of being in one of the toughest and most expensive regulatory environment is that it's very difficult to overbuild. Even so, new home construction dropped 63% last year, while jobs grew by 1.2%. Home vacancies, which were already low at 1.6%, fell to a national bottom at 0.8%, making it the tightest market in the country.