With all the doom and gloom of the real estate market, I decided to try and find out if there were any healthy areas where the real estate market might not be as bad as others. I was hoping to find economies with nominal unemployment, small amounts of foreclosures, plus the prices of homes being much smaller than the national average. Using data from Fiserv Lending Solutions, here’s what I found.

 
Lancaster, Pennsylvania: locals say Lancaster has been conservative in it’s lending which keeps the foreclosure and bank owned properties to a minimum. Also with a median home price of $206,000, and 12-month change in value still in the positive (+1.6%), this modestly small town of 498 thousand could be a wise investment. Not to mention a nice place to raise a family.

Clarksville, Tennessee: A close suburb to Nashville, Clarksville is able to enjoy the attractions of a larger city, and at the same time a median home price of $130,000. House prices has have also continued to climb slowly 1.4% over the last 12 months.

Albuquerque, New Mexico: Albuquerque is a pretty large town, population 832,774 and at the same time continues to have growth in home values. The current median value is very affordable at $172,000 – rising steadily at 1% over the last 12 months. Other cities the size of Albuquerque have fallen victim to massive speculation and hence accelerated foreclosures.

Burlington, Vermont: Strict zoning standards have kept speculators out, and kept foreclosures to a minimum. Median home price is $250,000. Also the small population of 145,360 keeps locals in touch with their lenders. Those relationships keep foreclosures down.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Strong job markets in health care and technology drive the city. The population is very large at 2,355,712 and home sales have slipped 16% this year. But values have remained, and grown steady over the last 12 months at 1%. The home values are very affordable at $137,000, which keeps a lot of growth, and show lots of signs of potential.

Johnson City, Tennessee: Median home prices are at $120,000, which puts them -41% vs. the rest of the nation. Largely the students and faculty at East Tennessee State University, which used to commute between north and south for the winter, but now stay put, keep the market steady.

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Tags: cities, foreclosures, prices, real-estate