Forbes.com is probably not always accurate on Real Estate.



But St. Louis has been included in some lists, good or bad.

In Pictures: America's Most Stable Housing Markets



5. St. Louis, Mo.

Median home price: $157,200



Annual price change from 2006: 2.7%



Projected price change to 2008: 3.01%



Because area returns have never been high, St. Louis's housing market generally flies underneath the national radar. Its strongest characteristic: a supply-and-demand dynamic slightly slanted toward the seller. Overexpansion has not hit St. Louis in the same way as other large markets, and its sales rate based on the number of households in the city is strong.

http://tinyurl.com/6345eu

In Depth: America's Most Affordable Places to Retire

8 St. Louis, Mo.

Meet me in St. Louis. Seriously. Greater St. Louis is growing fast and with good reason. Affordable housing and sluggish inflation (just 3.2% in June 2008) make this is a great place to retire.

http://tinyurl.com/6f72r5

In Depth: Best Cities To Buy A Home

3. St. Louis, Mo.

St. Louis is a great place to settle because it's not overbuilt and is reasonably priced relative to income. Thanks to the attractive cost of living, many large corporations--including brewing behemoth Anheuser-Busch and financial heavies Stifel Nicolaus and Edward Jones--call St. Louis home. With a family friendly culture, and a steadily appreciating median home price of $145,400, the "Gateway to the West" is a great place to buy a home.

http://tinyurl.com/6cd2l8

In Depth: Best And Worst Cities To Rent A Home

33. St. Louis, Mo. (tie)

Annual Change in Rent: 3%



New Construction: 9%

The only thing St. Louis has going for it is a fairly low average rent increase year-over-year. (From 2007 to 2008, it was just 3%.) However, there is little increase in construction. What's more, renting costs an average of $697 a month. That's $23 a month more than a mortgage payment.

By new construction, does that include rehabs? I would assume there's still a good amount of stock in Downtown lofts, some of which are going rental. I doubt there's going to be a shortage of apartments and lofts for a while.



http://tinyurl.com/6xcege

In Depth: Best Cities For Young Professionals

15. St. Louis, Mo.

St. Louis has one of the nation's highest concentrations of top companies. It ranks seventh by that measure, thanks to companies like Energizer and Peabody Energy, which have been top performers in their sectors. When it comes to graduates, however, St. Louis falls behind, at 21st place.

http://tinyurl.com/6mywkd

In Pictures: America's Riskiest Real Estate Markets

4. St. Louis, Mo.

In year-over-year terms, St. Louis prices dropped by 20% from 2006 to 2007, according to Radar Logic. The soft market features excess inventory, but subprime isn't gutting it. A 1.2% foreclosure rate coupled with sluggish job growth has resulted in one of the nation’s harshest corrections. The potential benefit, though it comes with high risk, is that sharp declines, especially in a cheap market, shorten recovery times if other economic activities hold up.

I'll get a link for that last one later. Forbes doesn't want to load right now.



I'm sure there are more anyway.



They're not necessarily accurate, but interesting anyway. What do you guys think?

In Depth: Best Cities To Buy A Home

3. St. Louis, Mo.

St. Louis is a great place to settle because it's not overbuilt and is reasonably priced relative to income. Thanks to the attractive cost of living, many large corporations--including brewing behemoth Anheuser-Busch and financial heavies Stifel Nicolaus and Edward Jones--call St. Louis home. With a family friendly culture, and a steadily appreciating median home price of $145,400, the "Gateway to the West" is a great place to buy a home.

Send that article to Carlos Brito.

^ Exactly. The variety and affordability of the housing stock here is great.