Mobile Bay Blog

CNN Money had an interesting article speculating that the residential real estate market will finally begin correcting itself toward the end of next year. While this bit of info may seem a bit depressing, there are some bright spots around the country.

Mobile, Alabama is an unexpected leader in the up-and-comers, with a boon of new construction “mega-projects,” according to the article. Austin, Texas is another city that is thriving in the midst of the surrounding storm. Texas as a whole is faring relatively well, thanks in large part to its developing reputation as the vacation/retirement spot d’jour. But Austin is faring particularly well, with a large white-collar, high-tech, well-educated population minus the astronomical housing prices that typically go hand-in-hand with such a culture. Austin’s median single family home prices are expected to increase 4.7 percent over the next two years, however, from about $185,000 to $195,000.

And of course, Austin and Mobile were both on the list we recently featured of 10 U.S. Cities People are Watching. So if you live in one of these cities, don’t hang your head, but jump for joy. Or consider investing in real estate in some up and coming areas of town now and capitalize in a few years. You can also invest farther away from the city with the expectation that commuters and commerce will migrate outward.