With lower home prices and attractive mortgage rates, 2009 will present plenty of bargains for real estate shoppers. But as the historic bust continues, Americans everywhere are learning a painful lesson about home buying: property values don’t always increase. As such, anyone looking to purchase a home this year should make sure they’re buying into a community that can support long-term value. With the help of housing experts, U.S. News compiled a list of the top 6 ingredients of strong housing markets:
Please not that although the following factors will help support a home’s value over the long term, they can’t prevent short-term declines in a given market—especially in light of the ongoing real estate crash. “These would be forces that are going to impact [your home] over the next five to ten years, as opposed to next year,” says Mike Larson of Weiss Research.
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