Foreclosures wiping out Phoenix and Las Vegas

This makes complete sense, as both desert cities require a lot of energy to get to for truckers and everyone else, and lots of effort to pipe water and 300 mile caesar salads into the suburbs.

Here's a warning. Any large concentration of people that exists in an environment of near desert conditions, or where local farming has been abandoned (or is no longer possible) is going to struggle.

clipped from realestate.yahoo.com Home prices in the 10-city index have fallen for 26 consecutive months. The decline has broadened over the past 12 months, with prices dropping in every city of the 20-city index during September. In the weakest market, Phoenix, the 12-month loss came to 31.9%. Las Vegas prices plummeted 31.3% and San Francisco recorded a 29.5% decline. The best performing markets, Dallas and Charlotte, N.C., still posted drops - 2.7% in Dallas and 3.5% in Charlotte. "There's no cushion against unemployment," he said. The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price national index recorded a 16.6% decline in the third quarter compared with the same period a year ago. That eclipsed the previous record of 15.1% set during the second quarter. Prices in Case-Shiller's separate index of 10 major cities fell a record 18.6%, while its 20-city index dropped a record 17.4%.