Robert Stec

Not all U.S. housing markets went south last year. First American CoreLogic Inc., in its latest study, identified the best-performing markets in the U.S. for 2008.

In many cases, the markets that made the list are areas that never enjoyed significant increases in value over the last decade -- but neither did they lose value over the last three years.

Nationwide, American CoreLogic, which predicts loan performance for banks, reported housing prices were down 11.1 percent last year. It predicts that home values will continue to decline through 2010.

In the fourth quarter of 2008, the report found that home price declines accelerated in some states where home values previously had been fairly stable, including Maine, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Oregon and Rhode Island.

"The geographic breadth of price declines rapidly expanded in the second half of 2008, which means that housing wealth losses are broadening across much of the country," says Mark Fleming, Chief Economist for First American CoreLogic.

The 11 cities with the highest home price appreciation in 2008 are:
Cedar Rapids, Iowa: 8.83 percent

Binghamton, N.Y.: 7.78 percent

Amsterdam, N.Y.: 7.89 percent

Malone, N.Y.: 7.60 percent

Bay City, Mich.: 6.87 percent

College Station-Bryan: 6.78 percent

Rocky Mount, N.C.: 6.69 percent

Auburn, N.Y.: 6.51 percent

Lebanon, Pa.: 6.41 percent

Elmira, N.Y.: 6.28 percent

Johnstown, Pa.: 6.20 percent

As a land owner and land broker I stumbled across this anonymous poem that I enjoyed, as the saying goes,     "they're not making any more of it."

I am the basis of all wealth, the heritage of the wise, the thrifty and prudent.

I am the poor person’s joy and comfort, the rich person’s prize, the right hand of capital, the silent partner of thousands of successful people.

I am solace of the widow, the comfort of old age, the cornerstone of security against misfortune and want. I am handed down through generations, as a possession of great value.

I am the choicest fruit of labor, the safest collateral and yet I am humble. I stand before every person bidding them to know me for what I am and asking them to possess me.

I am quietly growing in value through countless days. Though I might seem dormant, my worth increases, never falling, never ceasing. Time is my aid and the ever increasing population adds to my gain. I defy fire and the elements, for they cannot destroy me.

My possessors learn to believe in me and invariable they become envied by those that have passed me by. While all other things wither and decay, I alone survive. The centuries find me younger, always increasing in strength. All oil and minerals come from me. I am the producer of food, building materials and the home to every living thing. I serve as the foundation for homes, factories, banks and stores.

I have not been produced for millions of years yet, I am so common that thousands, unthinking and unknowingly, pass be by.

Who Am I? - I Am Land
Anonymous