How To Spot the Next Boom Market

By Lisa Taddeo, copied from Golf Living Magazine

These five trends will help you see the next hot home market before prices rise.

Figuring out where the next bomo housing market will occur might seem about as easy as guessing the winning lottery numbers, but eagle-eyed buyers can cash in if they know what to look for. If you see billboards touting a new development, you're already too late. Savvy shopers know that a Home Depot coming to an underdeveloped suburb is usually a precursor to real estate growth because the home-repiar chain researches demographics, employment and wage trends to indentify potential markets. If that megastore opening across town doesn't tip you off, these indicators should. And if they don't work for you, next week's winning Powerball numbers are, 17, 24,33...

1. Sniff out the Big Mac

McDonald's uses a program called Quintillion that predicts grwoth patterns of cities and school distrcits to decide where to open new franchises. Starbucks is another chain with its finger on the pulse of the market. Watch for multiple openings of franchises in the area.

2. Where have you friends gone?

If you want to find the next boom town, follow the baby boomers, says Money magazine's real estate editor Stephen Gandel. An entire generation will soon start moving from the suburbs in search of smaller homes or condos. "Look for growth where the baby boomers are moving out of and also where they're headed," he says. According to Eric Carrara, president of Evergreen Financial Services, "There are approximately 76 million baby boomers spending $2 trillion annually. Anything that baby boomers touch turns to gold."

3. When bad news is good for you

Clsoing of military bases used to signal a recession. Now it's a chance for developers to convert empty bases into residential communities. The closely watched bases on the endangered list include Fort McPherson in Atlants, For Monmouth in New Jersey and the main campus of the Walter Reed Army Meidcal Center in Washington, D.C.

4. Know wher the Perma-booms are

A survey by Century 21 found that 27 percet of respondents want to move to the Southeast. The Southwest is the aim of another 23 percent. These areas will take off for real estaet growth.

5. Pay to Know

Avoid a guessing game, says Jack P. Friendman, just a pay for professional help. For up-to-the-minute appraisals of hot markets try Claritas [claritas.com], which provides a detailed demographic breakdown as well as market analysis. "Give them a zip code or an address and they will tell you all about the characteristsics of the population within a specific radius. There is a fee, but it's well worth it," he says.