Are Home Sales Really Improving?

Yes! In Wake County, we had a significant increase in the number of homes closed in July, October and November. The increase was compared to home sales in the previous months as well as 2008. The First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit has driven at least part of the home sales.

In watching the news over the next 2 or 3 months, viewers must be cautious in how they interpret what they hear. The media might be reporting that homes sales dropped in December, January and February. In a normal market, these three months are typically slow months in the real estate market anyway. I'm sure the media won't be reporting that fact.

In Wake County, we had significant growth since 2004 through somewhere in 2007. Based on the changes in the economy, I don't think we will experience that big of a growth rate for many years. Homes prices in other areas have dropped back down to "affordable prices". People in those areas probably won't be leaving those areas in the big numbers they have in the past. And they won't be bringing with them large amounts of money to put down on a house or to buy a house with cash. Based on this information, I think Wake County and the surrounding area will find a new normal market.

Home sales will continue to improve in the next year just not to the levels we had in years past.

Tax Credit for Home Buyers to be Continued & Improved!

Because of the increase in home sales across the country, the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit will probably be extended and a new one will be added! Real estate agents across the country have reported increases in sales to first time home buyers who wanted to take advantage of the tax credit and the low interest rates. In parts of the country that experienced hyper appreciation, homes are now affordable again for the first time homebuyers!

In addition to the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, the government is looking at adding on a tax credit for those homeowners who want to move up. The tax credit would be $6500 for those homeowners who have lived in their current home for 5 years or more. Income limits would apply.

In the Wake County area, the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit has an affect on home sales. We had an increase in home sales during the summer in the price bracket below $200,000. In October, we had an increase of homes closed and the majority of those were also below $200,000.

Now imagine what the new program will do for homes sales! We will have an increase in home sales across all price points!

So, check back over the next couple of days for updates on the new tax credit program!

Tax Credits and Low Interest Rates

The term "Realtor" is a copyrighted term belonging to the National Association of Realtors, also known as the NAR. In our local area, all real estate agents and brokers are required to be a member of the NAR. The NAR has standards and ethics that all members have to practice in their business. In summary, the standards and ethics are to guide real estate agents & brokers to be professionals and to be trustworthy in their business.

When the housing crisis started, the National Association of Realtors along with the National Association of Homebuilders joined forces and went to Washington, DC. They worked with the government to come up with programs to get home sales going again and also programs to help people stay in their homes. These two groups also worked with the government to set up guidelines so the country wouldn't get into the mortgage mess again. Currently, they are working to make sure that appraisals of home sold are fair and that the restrictions are not set too tight so as to cause a decline in home values which has happened in some areas.

The NAR sends all members newsletters on current events and how they are addressing those current events. They have given us as real estate agents and brokers the opportunity to give our feedback to the NAR and also to our law makers. They have been heard and worked on the project for the First Time Home Buyers tax credit and to keep interest rates low. They will remain working in DC until the economic situation has changed in our country.

Wake County Homes Sales Thru September

The good news for our local market is that it is improving. We started out the year with home sales approximately 40% below last year home sales. At the end of September, home sales compared to last year were about 24% lower than last year. Major improvement over those 9 months.

July and August brought sellers out and increased home sales by about 30 to 50% over previous months. Home sales typically increase over the summer months as buyers want to get their children in school at the beginning of the school year.

September homes sales were not as strong as July and August but that is a normal market trend. September home sales were 15% lower than August which falls right in line with the change in home sales across those 2 months from previous years.

Are we settling into a more stable, normal market? The answer to that question will be seen in a couple of months. Stay tuned.

200,000 Electric Ranges Recalled

Frigidaire, a division of Electrolux Home Products Inc., of Augusta, GA is recalling approximately 200,000 Frigidaire, Frigidaire Gallery, Frigidaire Professional and Kenmore Elite smoothtop electric ranges with rotary knobs and digital displays. Depending on the model, the surface heating elements can: 1) turn on spontaneously without being switched on; 2) fail to turn off after being switched off; or, 3) heat to different temperatures than selected. This poses a fire and burn hazard to consumers.

Frigidaire has received 126 reports of incidents, including four reports of minor burns and two reports of minor property damage.

The products were sold at Sears and other national chain and independent retailers nationwide from June 2001 through August 2009 for between $1,000 and $2,500.
Consumers should stop using the recalled ranges immediately and contact Frigidaire or Sears to schedule a free repair.

To view photos and serial numbers of affected units, go to: www.smoothtoprangerecall.com/node42.aspx. You can also contact Frigidaire at (800) 449-9812 between 8 a.m. and midnight ET Monday through Saturday.

Consumers who purchased their products at Sears should call Sears at (800) 449-9810 between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. ET Monday through Saturday.

Information source: hgtvpro.com
The model and serial number can be found by opening the range drawer at the base of the unit.

Forbes: 10 Best Cities for a Housing Recovery

Forbes Magazine has reported on 10 of the best cities for a housing recovery. Most of the cities were in the first group of cities to have a slow down in their housing market. Since homeowners or sellers in these markets had a hard time selling their homes and sold for lower prices than in previous times, the real estate market in the Raleigh-Durham area was effected. The number of buyers coming to our area slowed down. They also didn't have as much money to put into a new home when they arrived to our area.

I recently had an e-mail conversation with a former client/neighbor of mine who moved to the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area in 2006 just before the slow down in the FL market. They bought a home that had been a foreclosure that needed work. They got a great deal on that home at that given time. This past winter they were given the opportunity to transfer. The appraisal on their home came in almost $100,000 less that what they had in the home. However, this summer, similar homes to theirs have sold much closer to the price they purchased their home for in 2006.

So, there is good news out there in the big world. Slowly, one step at a time the housing market will recover back to some "normal" level!

To read the article in Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/13/recovery-cities-homes-lifestyle-real-estate-housing-recovery-cities.html

What's In It For You, You ask?

In addition to the First Time Home Buyers tax credit, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has tax credits for home improvements! The purpose of this part of the act is to promote green jobs and energy independence. The home improvements are all related to improving the energy efficiency of a home. Below is a chart on which home improvement jobs are included and information on the tax credits:

• Windows and Doors 30% of cost up to $1500*
• Roofing 30% of cost up to $1500*
• Insulation 30% of cost up to $1500*
• HVAC 30% of cost up to $1500*
• Water Heaters 30% of cost up to $1500*

*subject to a maxi um of $1500 for all above improvements.

If you decide to use a geothermal heat pump or solar panels and water heaters, the tax credit is 30% of cost with no limit!

Tax credits reduce your total cost of the improvements. The credit is realized on your yearly tax return by reducing your total tax liability by the amount of the tax credit. For example, if you owe the Federal Government $4000 when you fill out your tax return and you have a $1500 tax credit due to qualifying home improvements, you will reduce what you owe the government by $1500 and only pay them $2500.

To qualify for the tax credit, the home improvement has to meet standards that will increase the home's energy efficiency. For more information, check out HGTV's website: http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/pac_ctnt/text/0,,HPRO_20196_87115,00.html
(the information is on the lower part of this website)

For more information on the tax credit, see: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204335,00.html OR

www.recovery.gov

Tax Free Weekend Coming Up!

When the stores open on Friday, Aug. 7 through when the stores close on Sunday, Aug. 9, many purchases will be sales tax free! Many states have eliminated the sales tax free weekends do to budget issues so we should thank NC for letting the consumers have this break!

What is tax free you ask?

• Clothing, footwear, and school supplies under $100
• Sports and recreation equipment under $50
• Computers under $3,500
• Computer equipment under $250
• School supplies

All retailers are required to take part in the sales tax free weekend provided they sell the above merchandise. So, go get started on school shopping and maybe even some Christmas shopping -Christmas will be here before you know it! Happy shopping!

For more details, go to http://www.dornc.com/practitioner/sales/bulletins/section34.pdf#34-24

Looking for Land and Great Fishing Pond?

20 acres with an approximate 6 acre pond great for fishing and canoeing.
2 additional homesites located on the property with water connections to the local community well.
Buyer can sell the additional homesites or use the property for a family compound.
Additional homesites would also make a great location for a horse barn since there is running water.
Horses allowed and other horse farms in the area.

1925 sf home that is designed for entertaining. Open flowing floorplan with lots of windows. Dining area is open to the kitchen and can accomodate a table to 8 people.
Living room has a gas logs fireplace.
Kitchen has eating bar, double ovens, solid surface countertops and pull out shelving.
The family room has 3 walls of windows with views of the pond.
The master bedroom has a walk-in closet, glamour bathroom and a private balconey overlooking the pond - great place to rest and relax at the end of a long day.
2 bedrooms on second level with a loft.
1 bedroom on first floor with full bath and door to the exterior - this room would also make a great home office.

Great property for fun and relaxation all for $439,900.
For more information, please give me a call at 919-612-1506
Or email me at beaverc@hpw.com.

$8000 Home Buyer Tax Credit

What a great program offered by the government! The tax credit applies to first time homebuyers and those buyers who have not owned a home during the 3 year period prior to the purchase. Here is a summary of the program:

· The tax credit is for first-time home buyers only. For the tax credit program, the IRS defines a first-time home buyer as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the
three-year period prior to the purchase.
· The tax credit does not have to be repaid.
· The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000.
· The credit is available for homes purchased on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.
· Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit.

Because of the “mortgage crisis”, 100% mortgages are few and far between. FHA mortgage require 3% down. This tax credit allows buyers to put the money they have toward the down payment on a home and then get the tax credit money to put back in the bank account or to use towards the costs of homeownership.

For more details on this tax credit, go to:
http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/2009/glance.php

Economic Forecasts

For the last year or so, we have heard so many forecasts about what is going to happen in our economy. There were guesses that the mortgage crisis would bottom out either during the summer of 2008 and then the fall of 2008. Of course, now they are forecasting sometime in 2009 the mortgage crisis will bottom out.

With the elections coming up in November, less than 2 months now, some people are forecasting that once the next President is chosen, the public will feel more confident about what is going to happen in the country and the economy will change.

Today on the news, Lehman Brothers may be filing for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch is working on a deal for Bank of America to buy them out. The forecasters are adding on to that news that maybe more banks will be following.

At this point, I am tired of hearing forecasts. Forecasts are educated guesses. I am wondering if some forecasts are based on other people forecasts and just stepped up one. I think all forecasting should be based on what is going to happen in the next month or quarter. Look at the facts from the previous month or quarter and forecast the next 4 weeks or 12 weeks accordingly. I am wondering if the long term forecasts are scaring people and thus causing more problems.

So, with all the above news, who wouldn’t want to be conservative in their spending and maybe even saving money or saving additional money just in case. The retailers are already preparing for a slower holiday season – now that is a good, realistic forecast!

Thinking About Moving in the Future?

If you are thinking about moving sometime in the future, now is a get time to get your home ready for the market. Buyers today want a home that they can move into and not have to do much in order to make the house feel like their home. Initially, they don’t want to have to paint and they sure don’t want to have to do anything with the flooring. Here is what I propose you do if you are considering selling your home in the next year:

Interior
Neutralize your paint colors. Wake County Homebuilders Association will be holding their annual Parade of Homes the last weekend in September and the first two weekends in October. The Parade provides for a great opportunity to see what the latest color trends are. Often times, a color theme through out a home makes buyers feel comfortable. Consider painting the foyer, main living area, the kitchen, stairwell & upstairs hallway the same color.

Fix doors that are not easy to open or close. Make sure exterior doors seal up against the weather stripping. Fix door locks that don’t work properly.

De-Clutter! Potential buyers need to be able to see their furniture and personal effects in your home.

Window coverings – if you have heavy window coverings, consider taking them down. Open up your windows as much as possible.

Remove wallpaper – that is a chore a new homeowner does not want to deal with.
Fix leaky faucets and toilets.

Exterior
Paint the exterior of your home if needed. Look closely to see if you need to do any caulking. Check the caulking around doors, windows and corners. Prod around for any trim pieces that might need replacing.

Fix windows that don’t open and close easily.

Replace or fix broken storm doors. Your front door is one of the first impressions a potential buyer has about your home. Make sure it is easy to open and close.

Replace your roof if you are getting close to the end of your roof’s life.

Check the vent boots on your roof plumbing. They wear out faster than the shingles and may need to be replaced.

Trim trees and shrubs so they are not touching the house.

Fix & clean your deck. Hammer down nails that are sticking up. Replace any boards that may be rotten. Weather seal your deck.


If your carpet needs to be replaced, do so just before you put it on the market. You want your carpet to be fresh. Invest in the pad –there is an old saying that buyers buy through their feet referring to the soft feel they get when walking through a home.

Visit again for more useful information.

Who Knows When the Economy Will Get Better…

People in the media are trying to forecast when the economy will get better. They are trying to predict when the “housing crisis” will be over and when gas prices will come down. In the meantime, consumers are trying to make their dollar go further since the gas prices are affecting our daily lives by impacting us at the pumps, at the grocery store and in all else that we buy. People are thinking more carefully about their purchases and trying to make their money go further.

With all the talk in the media about the “housing crisis”, fewer people are moving. Our market has slowed down compared to the hyper-markets that we have been in for the last 3 or 4 years. If you graph the home sales since 1999 through the current year, the homes sales for 2008 are in line with homes sales in the market before the “hyper-markets” of 2005 – 2007. What it boils down to is that Wake County doesn’t have the rush of people moving here that we had in the last several years. Can we say that we are in more of a normal market? Who knows! Isn’t there a saying that “normal is just a dryer setting”?

Each area of Wake County and each neighborhood in the area has really a different market. Homes over $400,000 are taking longer to sell. Homes around $200,000 are selling fairly well. Homes closer to the RTP and technology areas are probably doing the best – less distance to commute which means a lower gas bill. If you are in a position where you need to sell or might want to sell, call a real estate agent and have a really frank and honest conversation about the condition of your home, the sales price and the market for your home in order to get prepared to go on the market or to make your decision to sell.

Next entry: so what should a homeowner be doing now if they might be selling sometime in the future?

It's All How You Look at It

The article below was forwarded to me from our franchise company: Coldwell Banker. It seems that in some parts of the world, investors are taking advantage of the current state of the economy and hoping to have good returns in the future. Given the conditions in the areas where they are buying, I would say that they are very optimistic! I think I'd rather deal with a recession as opposed to what they are dealing with. How about you?

Real Estate in the Middle East:
Scott Jagow: In Beirut, the fighting has stopped for the moment. There's a new power-sharing agreement between Hezbollah militants and the new Lebanese government. You'd think real estate in a war-torn city like that would be dirt cheap. But actually, homes and condos are pretty darn expensive, and foreign investors are starting to notice. Ben Gilbert reports from Beirut.

Ben Gilbert: Just two weeks ago, Hezbollah militiamen fought street-to-street in this west Beirut neighborhood, using machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. After the smoke cleared, the windows were blown out of high rises on some streets, but the offices of Coldwell Banker stood unscathed and business quickly resumed.

Combat is normally not a good sign for real estate. But broker Mario Mohanna says Lebanese investors see this as a buying opportunity.

Mario Mohanna: There is a French proverb that says you have to buy on the sound of the cannons, and sell on the sound of the violins. And here, they are applying this hundred percent! More things goes worse, they say this is an opportunity to buy!

Mohanna volunteered to take me to an old Lebanese house near his office that's he's renovating for a client. It cost around $2 million one year ago. It will be worth $6 million after renovation.

Gilbert: Like 10 days ago, there was fighting about three blocks from here, and the price hasn't gone down at all.

Mohanna: Not at all, it didn't go down.
Without skipping a beat, Mohanna resumes his tour:
Mohanna: You see this is from here the facade, the main facade, which is wonderful. This will become a garden.

Mohanna is unshakably optimistic, but it seems for good reason. Real estate prices have risen by at least 30 percent here in the last few years. Some areas have seen prices double. Mohanna isn't really worried about renewed fighting, but he does have limits.

Mohanna: Don't buy without parking. No parking you will never be able to sell it again. This is a must now.
Mohanna has done his homework. Throughout Lebanon's civil war, property prices rarely went down.

Ashraf Kojok, the manager at Coldwell Banker's west Beirut office, says rich Gulf Arabs love Lebanon, as do the millions of Lebanese overseas who earn salaries in strong euros and buy Lebanese real estate in cheap dollars.

The Housing Crisis is Over

The following is parts of an article published in the Wallstreet Journal on May 6, 2008 on page A23 By CYRIL MOULLE-BERTEAUX.

The dire headlines coming fast and furious in the financial and popular press suggest that the housing crisis is intensifying. Yet it is very likely that April 2008 will mark the bottom of the U.S. housing market. Yes, the housing market is bottoming right now.

How can this be? For starters, a bottom does not mean that prices are about to return to the heady days of 2005. That probably won't happen for another 15 years. It just means that the trend is no longer getting worse, which is the critical factor.

Most people forget that the current housing bust is nearly three years old. Home sales peaked in July 2005. New home sales are down a staggering 63% from peak levels of 1.4 million. Housing starts have fallen more than 50% and, adjusted for population growth, are back to the trough levels of 1982.

Furthermore, residential construction is close to 15-year lows at 3.8% of GDP; by the fourth quarter of this year, it will probably hit the lowest level ever. So what's going to stop the housing decline? Very simply, the same thing that caused the bust: affordability.

The boom made housing unaffordable for many American families, especially first-time home buyers. During the 1990s and early 2000s, it took 19% of average monthly income to service a conforming mortgage on the average home purchased. By 2005 and 2006, it was absorbing 25% of monthly income. For first time buyers, it went from 29% of income to 37%. That just proved to be too much.

Prices got so high that people who intended to actually live in the houses they purchased (as opposed to speculators) stopped buying. This caused the bubble to burst.Since then, house prices have fallen 10%-15%, while incomes have kept growing (albeit more slowly recently) and mortgage rates have come down 70 basis points from their highs. As a result, it now takes 19% of monthly income for the average home buyer, and 31% of monthly income for the first-time home buyer, to purchase a house. In other words, homes on average are back to being as affordable as during the best of times in the 1990s. Numerous households that had been priced out of the market can now afford to get in.

The next question is: Even if home sales pick up, how can home prices stop falling with so many houses vacant and unsold? The flip but true answer: because they always do.In the past five major housing market corrections (and there were some big ones, such as in the early 1980s when home sales also fell by 50%-60% and prices fell 12%-15% in real terms), every time home sales bottomed, the pace of house-price declines halved within one or two months.

The explanation is that by the time home sales stop declining, inventories of unsold homes have usually already started falling in absolute terms and begin to peak out in "months of supply" terms. That's the case right now: New home inventories peaked at 598,000 homes in July 2006, and stand at 482,000 homes as of the end of March. This inventory is equivalent to 11 months of supply, a 25-year high – but it is similar to 1974, 1982 and 1991 levels, which saw a subsequent slowing in home-price declines within the next six months.

Inventories are declining because construction activity has been falling for such a long time that home completions are now just about undershooting new home sales. In a few months, completions of new homes for sale could be undershooting new home sales by 50,000-100,000 annually.

Inventories will drop even faster to 400,000 – or seven months of supply – by the end of 2008. This shift in inventories will have a significant impact on prices, although house prices won't stop falling entirely until inventories reach five months of supply sometime in 2009. A five-month supply has historically signaled tightness in the housing market.

Many pundits claim that house prices need to fall another 30% to bring them back in line with where they've been historically. This is usually based on an analysis of house prices adjusted for inflation: Real house prices are 30% above their 40-year, inflation-adjusted average, so they must fall 30%. This simplistic analysis is appealing on the surface, but is flawed for a variety of reasons.

Most importantly, it neglects the fact that a great majority of Americans buy their houses with mortgages. And if one buys a house with a mortgage, the most important factor in deciding what to pay for the house is how much of one's income is required to be able to make the mortgage payments on the house. Today the rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is 5.7%. Back in 1981, the rate hit 18.5%. Comparing today's house prices to the 1970s or 1980s, when mortgage rates were stratospheric, is misguided and misleading.

This is all good news for the broader economy. The housing bust has been subtracting a full percentage point from GDP for almost two years now, which is very large for a sector that represents less than 5% of economic activity.

When the rate of house-price declines halves, there will be a wholesale shift in markets' perceptions. All of a sudden, the expected value of the collateral (i.e. houses) for much of the lending that went on for the past decade will change. Right now, when valuing the collateral, market participants including banks are extrapolating the current pace of house price declines for another two to three years; this has a significant impact on the amount of delinquencies, foreclosures and credit losses that lenders are expected to face.

More home sales and smaller price declines means fewer homeowners will be underwater on their mortgages. They will thus have less incentive to walk away and opt for foreclosure.
A milder house-price decline scenario could lead to increases in the market value of a lot of the securitized mortgages that have been responsible for $300 billion of write-downs in the past year. Even if write-backs do not occur, stabilizing collateral values will have a huge impact on the markets' perception of risk related to housing, the financial system, and the economy.

We are of course experiencing a serious housing bust, with serious economic consequences that are still unfolding. The odds are that the reverberations will lead to subtrend growth for a couple of years. Nonetheless, housing led us into this credit crisis and this recession. It is likely to lead us out. And that process is underway, right now.

Mr. Moulle-Berteaux is managing partner of Traxis Partners LP, a hedge fund firm based in New York.

What is your response to Mr. Moulle-Berteaux article?

America's Recession-Proof Cities

Nationally, home prices are falling, unemployment is on the rise and the economy is expected to grow slowly--or even contract--in the first half of the year.
But some cities are doing just fine. Take Oklahoma City, Okla. With falling unemployment, one of the country's strongest housing markets, and solid growth in agriculture, energy and manufacturing, it looks best positioned among the nation's largest metropolitan areas to ride out the current crisis.

San Antonio is right behind. It also features solid employment figures and affordable home prices that continue to rise. Its industries are growing; it can't hurt that the new AT&T (nyse: T - news - people ) was formed when San Antonio-based SBC Communications swallowed the old AT&T Corp. and BellSouth. The others holding steady or improving include Austin, Texas; Houston; Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas; San Jose, Calif.; Raleigh, N.C.; Salt Lake City; and Seattle.

Behind The Numbers
To find them, Forbes.com examined the country's 50 largest metros and looked at several key measures. We examined unemployment data supplied by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year ending in February 2008 to see which areas are most adding or subtracting jobs. Next, we looked at the BLS data on job growth in non-farm payrolls, through February 2008, for construction, education and health services, financial activities, information, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, natural resources and mining, professional and business services, trade, transportation and utilities, and the BLS's catch-all category, "other services."
We also took into account median home price data from the National Association of Realtors--from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007--to see which areas posted the largest annual gains. Our data don't account for the impact of declining sales in the first several months of this year.

Finally, our rankings were adjusted using data from a November 2007 report, "U.S. Metro Economies: The Mortgage Crisis," by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. It lists each city's estimated gross metropolitan product growth by projecting how rising foreclosures and falling home prices would affect overall levels of productivity in local economies.
Sunny Southern Skies Texas cities fared best under these measures. San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth have benefited from historically lower home prices, which have been affordable to a large segment of the population. The availability of land--and, in some cases, little zoning--helped keep prices in these cities low. Instead of competing for homes, Texans could move to a new subdivision a little farther out.

What's more, all four boast falling unemployment rates, with Austin dropping from 3.8% to 3.6% and San Antonio from 4.3% to 4%. Cities that are expected to see growth in non-farm payrolls include Raleigh, which is expected to see 7.4% growth in professional and business services and 6% growth in education and health. In Salt Lake City, where the median home price rose 2.5% and unemployment, at 3.1%, is below the 5.1% national average, growth in education and health services is expected to be 5.5%.

Some cities have seen increasing home prices but otherwise continue to struggle. Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y., have seen home price growth (from a low base) but still contend with high unemployment--around 6%--and slow-growing or shrinking industries.
And in the San Jose area, the median home sale price is over $830,000. That's 11% higher than it was in the fourth quarter of 2006, helping to land the area at No. 4 on our list. Problem is, that growth has since cooled, and it remains to be seen whether pricey homes coupled with a 5.3% unemployment rate will cause trouble for homeowners this year.
To be sure, even in the most resilient cities, the mortgage crisis has caused suffering. People everywhere got into bad mortgages. Similarly, even in the most battered cities, the majority of people are employed and making their mortgage payments. The extent of recession or resilience is very much in the eye of the beholder, and this list represents only one of many ways to take a snapshot of economies that are standing tall.

In his statements to Congress' Joint Economic Committee earlier this month, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted the economy would possibly move into recession in the first half of 2008 but begin to rebound in the second half.
If you're tired of waiting, these might be the best places to go.

Joshua Zumbrun 04.29.08, 8:20 PM ET
Forbes.com