Locating a desirable spot to settle down means something quite different today than it did just three years ago. That's when Americans flocked to coastal and Sun Belt cities like Orlando, Fla., and Las Vegas, where properties were easy to acquire and home values were expected to noticeably appreciate.

Now, with home prices nationwide down 29% from their 2006 peak, according to Case Schiller, areas that were left behind during the home-building and home-buying craze suddenly look more attractive. Buying an affordable home in a city with a stable housing market, among other pluses like reasonable property taxes and minimal travel time to work, is the new definition of bang for the buck.  read more >
 

U-Haul International, Inc., North America's number one choice for do-it-yourself movers, today released results of the annual U-Haul National Migration Trend Report that reflects the nation's top growth areas for families that moved during 2008. The 2008 Top Growth Cities Report indicates that for cities with more than with 5,000 families moving, Wichita, Kan. had the highest percentage of growth, with 9.87 percent.

"The report, reflective of growth patterns in the United States during 2008, was compiled based on nationwide trends in cities of all sizes and reflects communities with more than 5,000 families moving in or out of the area," stated John "J.T." Taylor, U-Haul president of Phoenix Operations. "Growth cities were then determined by calculating the percentage of inbound moves vs. outbound moves for each area."  read more >
 

Why live in an expensive city when there are some great, affordable treasures out there? Here's MSN Real Estate's list of the nine best, livable cities where you won't need to trade the good life for the boring.  

"Wichita is one of the most affordable places in the study, and has some of the best numbers for employment and job growth, thanks to a boom in agriculture and ethanol.

Houses are appreciating in value, even in today's tough economy. And commute times are blessedly short. The downtown area is being revitalized with new restaurants, shopping centers and parks. Arts and entertainment facilities are stronger than one might expect for a city this size, and the community feel is strong. And there's a new convention center along the Arkansas River."  read more >

To compile the rankings for the Best Cities For Jobs list forecast, we used five data points, weighted equally: the state's unemployment rate, job growth, income growth, median household income and cost of living for full-year 2006 (only partial data is available so far for 2007). We measured the largest 100 metropolitan areas, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, and obtained the data from Moody's Economy.com.

The numbers are compiled based on greater metropolitan areas; it's also important to note that this list doesn't weigh specifics like job composition or job stability, two significant characteristics that will appeal to any job seeker.  read more >

Bizjournals compared housing costs and income levels in the 95 U.S. metros with populations above 500,000. The study used statistics from the 2005 American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. From our study, bizjournals identifies the 10 most affordable markets to own a home and the 10 costliest markets to own a home. read more >