Buyers Are Still Buying Homes!

To hear the national media tell it, homebuyers are fools to buy right now. Home prices have dropped 5 percent since October 2006. Our economic problems aren't over, so home prices are bound to drop further. Why would anyone catch that falling knife? But there are some markets out there that are making monkeys out of housing bears.

According to the National Association of Realtors, home prices are higher in 93 out of 150 metro areas.
Which markets are sizzling? Charlotte, North Carolina, San Francisco; Albuquerque; and Green Bay, Wis., among others.
But don't take NAR's word for it.
Forbes Magazine has noticed the red glow from those cities and others. The magazine just named 10 cities where home prices are going through the roof, including
Forbes: 2007 Best U.S. Housing Markets:
Salt Lake City, 246,700, up 14.1%
Charlotte, S.C., $220,000, up 11%
San Jose, Ca., $852,500, up 9.4%
San Francisco, Ca., $825,400, up 8.6%
Raleigh, N.C., $229,500, up 7.5%
Austin, Tx $188,200, up 7.2%
Pittsburgh, Pa., $127,700, up 6.1%
Seattle, Wa., $394,700, up 6%
San Antonio, Tx, $154,700, up 5.7%
Portland, Or., $299,700, up 5.2%