One Industry Towns Among Few to Show Housing Appreciation

If you get the sense that the entire North American continent is still in the midst of a real estate meltdown, that's not surprising, given the news coverage of the catastrophic events of the past year and a half, but actually, a few U.S. cities have weathered the storm pretty well.

If you are looking to buy property in the United States, a few select markets are in fact doing quite well indeed. That's the good news. The bad news is, you may not want to actually live in any of them.

Most of the cities that have weathered the storm and have managed a steady appreciation in property values are home to a single major employer, either governmental or corporate. You work for that employer, or in a local support industry (retail, restaurant, service), or you don't work at all.

Some of the cities that have done well include Jacksonville NC, home to the Marine Camp LeJeune; Rochester MN, home to the Mayo Clinic; State College PA, home of Penn State University; Hinesville GA, home to military base Fort Stewart; Virginia Beach VA, home to a major military base; and Salinas CA, also known as the Salad Bowl of America.

Barn on Virginia Beach property, above MLS ID #0917121

A recent article at MSNBC refers to these cities as "Johnny One Notes," meaning they are company towns (or government or military towns) with only one thing going on when it comes to employment.

Paradoxically, a town with a single industry is usually more to economic downturns (as was the case for Elkhart IN, home to much of the nation's RV industry and now in double digit unemployment), but if the single industry that supports a major city is one that is indispensible (for example,  a military base), or thriving (medical institutions and lettuce), the one-not quality turns into a strength during hard times.

The MSNBC is article is a bit on the snarky side. Virginia Beach, for example, is fine place to live and in right on the Atlantic ocean. Not everybody moves to America to work, either. If you are retired or have your own money,then living in a  government town or near a military base can be great: lots of museums, low cost of living, stable home values, good shopping, good security, and if you are right on the ocean, all the better.

Other 'one note' cities are less exciting. Minnesota is lovely and so clean to look at it, but if you aren't used to long, long, cold, cold winters, don't move there. The real estate values may be stable, but the weather never will be.

To browse the Case-Shiller Index for how various parts of the U.S are weathering the housing downturn, visit Moodys.com and good luck. Finding data is not difficult. Interpreting it? That's another story.