I'm guilty of not following some areas close enough, so I don't feel comfortable giving an overall "educated" answer... but I will tell you what I've noticed... My neighborhood has had a lot, I mean A LOT of homes go up for sale, or being offered for rent, or just becoming vacant in the last year- year 1/2... I spoke with my realtor last week, and she said that property values are down everywhere... it's a buyers market right now. If I wanted to sell and move, as a realtor she'd help, but as my FRIEND... she strongly advised waiting until the market goes back up. Basically my home is worth less now, then it was when we purchased it 2 years ago. Kinda not cool. Let me just throw in that I bye no means live in a fancy neighborhood... but you can leave your doors open, and you get a stern letter from the home owners association if you've let your yard go too long, or your boat is parked on the street... according to my realtor friend, even the up-scale homes are way down...