Hot Housing Markets

These markets saw the greatest gains between the fourth quarter of 2003 and fourth quarter of 2004.
Market Percent increase
Las Vegas, NV 47.3
Riverside/San Bernardino, CA 34.7
West Palm Beach/Boca Raton, FL 34.0
Bradenton, FL 32.0
Sacramento, CA 31.5
Melbourne/Titusvile/Palm Bay, FL 30.5
Washington, DC 26.9
Ocala, FL 26.8
Ft. Myers/Cape Coral/Punta Gorda, FL 26.5
Sarasota, FL 25.8

Now to the defense of Melbourne/Titusville/Palm Bay. This is my old stomping grounds. For the longest time homes sold for $100,000 or less. Rarely did you hear about a sale around $150,000. This market was stagnant for 10 years maybe more. If median home prices are $187,000 this market has yet to hit that. I think in this area, the 30% market increase was more of a market adjustment to current prices. I don't think they are anywhere near "peak". You can still buy a NICE 3/2 home for around $160 in this market area. I am to bet that they will increase this year as well.

New Book coming out:

"Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?" (Currency/Doubleday), is scheduled to be released in March and predicts that real estate investments will climb through the end of the decade.