Rebound Is Possible

By Lauren Baier Kim
Here's a look at what's new in real-estate markets across the U.S. from around the Web. (Some links may require registration or subscriptions.)

Where to spot a rebound

With the housing market in a downturn, where can one expect to first see signs of a housing-market recovery? In more "affordable" markets like Indianapolis and Atlanta, says a Forbes.com article, which includes a slideshow of 10 affordable metro areas in the U.S. As prices fall in these lower-priced areas, more buyers will be able to afford homes, whereas buyers in regions with higher prices may find themselves locked out: "In markets that rely more on credit, any recovery will be more muted if lending standards remain tight or tighten," the article quotes Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, as saying. However, not all markets that made the Forbes list are healthy ones -- both Cleveland and Detroit are suffering from poor local economies and the subprime-mortgage fallout, Forbes.com notes. The Web site identified "affordable" cities by looking at median home price to median household salary ratios and tracking the percentage of homes sold in the first quarter of this year that were affordable to households earning the area's median income, Forbes.com says.... click title to read the rest of the article.