FINDING A SILVER

lining in today's real estate market isn't easy.

The latest Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price indexes showed that 10 out of 20 major metropolitan U.S. cities saw double-digit percentage declines in single-family-home values between February 2007 and February of this year. But some markets bucked the trend. Charlotte, N.C., claims the esteemed honor of being the only city to post a gain, while four others showed minor decreases of between 2% to 5%.

Still, these results are dismal compared with the surge in home values seen just a few years ago. Due to the subprime meltdown and ensuing credit crunch, any recovery in home prices will be slow, says David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's. As mortgage lenders continue to tighten their lending requirements, fewer prospective homeowners are securing mortgages, leaving a glut of homes on the market and further depressing prices.

So what's the secret of those cities managing to stave off exorbitant declines? Job growth. Each of the best-performing cities on the Case-Shiller index offer plentiful jobs with salaries big enough for homeowners to handle their mortgage payments, says Warren Bland, an economic geographer and author of "Retire in Style: 60 Outstanding Places Across the USA and Canada." For the most part, these cities also didn't fall prey to the hordes of speculators that, in some markets, sparked a triple-digit percentage surge in home prices during the real estate boom.

View our slideshow below to see the five cities that are best maintaining their home values.

Charlotte, N.C.

One Wachovia Center in downtown Charlotte.

Hailed as the up-and-coming Wall Street of the South, Charlotte, N.C., is home to the headquarters of both

Bank of America

Wachovia

In addition to strong employment prospects, Charlotte is inexpensive to build in and speculation has remained low (home prices rose by just 36% between January 2000 and September 2007). That combination has helped keep the value of single-family homes relatively stable, says Marc Louargand, president of the American Real Estate Society. Between February 2007 and February 2008, prices rose 1.5% the only increase in a major metropolitan city.

Strong Housing Markets
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Charlotte, N.C.	Portland, Ore.	Seattle	Dallas	Boston

Portland, Ore.

Mt. Hood sets the backdrop for Portland's skyline.

Portland's efforts to preserve its scenic beauty its surrounding mountains, hills, and rivers are the saving grace for home values here. Thanks to strict land-use policies, developers jump through hoops for building opportunities. These policies, which protect both landmarks and prevent congestion, kept speculation in Portland relatively low during the real estate boom, explains Bland.

Nevertheless, home values still rose 87%. Part of the growth is due to the city's healthy economy, which is driven in part by the tech industry. Intel, for example, is one of the city's largest employers. From February 2007 to February 2008, single-family-home values here dropped by just 2%.

Strong Housing Markets
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Charlotte, N.C.	Portland, Ore.	Seattle	Dallas	Boston

Seattle

The Space Needle in downtown Seattle.

In Seattle, grunge rockers and tree-huggers have given way to well-paid techies.

Microsoft

Out of the five best-performing cities, Seattle experienced the biggest housing bubble. Single-family home values grew a whopping 92% between January 2000 and August 2007. Steady employment, however, helped keep home values relatively stable even as the bubble burst. Single-family homes lost just 2.7% of their value from February 2007 to February 2008.

Strong Housing Markets
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Charlotte, N.C.	Portland, Ore.	Seattle	Dallas	Boston

Dallas

A view of Dallas' high-rise buildings.

The Lone Star state isn't so lonely anymore. Dallas, home to manufacturing corporations like

Texas Instruments

Strong Housing Markets
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Charlotte, N.C.	Portland, Ore.	Seattle	Dallas	Boston

Boston

Harvard's Lowell House looks over Boston's Charles River.

Natives here may pride themselves on Boston's traditions and sports teams, but it's the newcomers that keep the real estate market in good shape. "A vast number of people come in for college and stay after [they graduate]," says Louargand. Playing host to such hailed institutions as Harvard, MIT and Tufts, there's no shortage of young adults in this city, many of whom stay on for graduate school or land a job, he says.

While Boston experienced one of the earlier declines in home values in the nation, the market has since rebounded some, says Wyss. Between February 2007 and February 2008, single-family-home prices were down 4.6%.

Strong Housing Markets
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Charlotte, N.C.	Portland, Ore.	Seattle	Dallas	Boston