A Decade of Housing Growth? - For What It's Worth - Comcast.net Finance

If you're a glass-half-full kind of person... or even if glass-half-empty is more your style, there's little question the U.S. housing glass can use some filling. Prices have been in freefall for the past several years, and just about every major metropolitan area has been hit hard on the way down.

The most logical silver lining for the real-estate market -- by default, if for no other reason -- is that you can be fairly certain that over the long haul, starting today, prices should rise. (Let's face it, there isn't a whole lot of room left on the downside.)

But we're all aware of the typical housing mantra. The three most important factors influencing a home's value are, in no particular order:

1. Location
2. Location
3. Location

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So which U.S. cities are poised for the biggest jump over the next decade? Luke Mullins of U.S. News & World Report recently answered that very question -- and the results might just surprise you.

Using an interesting approach and formula that combined employment data, population data, geographic trends and industry trends -- all tied to the key backdrop of household income over the next 10 years -- the top spot went to the Bremerton-Silverdale, Wash. metro area. Mullins offers this take on the winner:

"The neighboring cities ... are located on the Kitsap Peninsula, a slip of land surrounded by more than 300 miles of coastline in lovely Puget Sound. Although the Pacific Northwest greenery is enticing, it's the cities' stable economies that should drive home price gains in the coming years."

Sounds like a Chamber of Commerce type of endorsement. No wonder home prices are expected to rise at an annual rate of 5.22 percent in Bremerton-Silverdale by 2018.

To find out if your hometown made the top 10, cross your fingers and click through to read the full U.S. News article: "The Top 10 Housing Markets for the Next 10 Years."

Do you agree that housing prices will grow over the next 10 years? Which cities do you think will fare the best? Let us know.

Message Edited by Anthony_Catalano on 06-23-2009 03:47 PM