Top 5 & Worst 5 Housing Markets

If you’re in the market for a home these days, you’re likely looking for a place you can live in for a long time, rather than a house you plan to sell a few short years later. But after deep price drops over the past several years, home buyers want to feel comfortable that the value of the house they buy has a good outlook ahead of it.

In your particular market, that often means taking a close look at the employment picture, population growth and housing inventory before making a purchase.

Unlike traditional forecasts that look a year into the future, Local Market Monitor, a firm that analyzes markets for the banking industry, also puts together a three-year forecast. What follows are the highlights of its longer-term forecast: The top five and bottom five housing markets for the three years ahead, taken from a ranking of the largest 100 markets it covers.

Click here to view the slideshow.