With home prices falling, you are looking for a neighborhood that has a greater likelihood of holding its value with future appreciation. How do you know what neighborhood is not as stable and which will appreciate over time?

Bankrate.com says judging a neighborhood’s worth over the long haul comes down to two main factors: Jobs and access to amenities.

For example, Andrew Schiller, creator of NeighborhoodScout.com, says signs of long-term opportunities for jobs in an area would be low unemployment, high household income, large or prominent colleges and universities, and seats of federal or state government. He says the Bureau of Labor Statistics is a good resource, particularly its Local Area Unemployment Statistics map, which provides unemployment information by metro area and county, as well as its Current Employment Statistics, which tells you how many people are employed in different sectors of the economy in a certain area.

As for judging a neighborhood’s amenities that can generate long-term value, Schiller cites characteristics like a neighborhood that offers a variety of nearby retail stores, low crime rates, parks, distinctive architecture, and good public schools.

Thanks to continued declines in home prices and rock-bottom mortgage rates, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index hit a record level of affordability.According to the index, 75.9% of all new and existing homes sold during the three months ended Dec. 31 could have been comfortably purchased by families earning the national median income of $64,200.

That was the highest percentage recorded in the 20-year history of the index, and a sharp increase from just three months earlier when 72.9% of all homes sold were considered affordable.

A pre-approval letter is more reliable than a pre-qualification. Getting A pre-qualification letter is easy. You just call a mortgage broker or lender, provide some basic financial information, then wait a few minutes for the letter to come through your fax machine. Getting a “pre-qual” from a Web site is just as easy. Enter some information, click ‘submit’ and voila.  A pre-approval letter, on the other hand, involves verification of the information. Rather than taking your word as faith, the lender will ask for documentation to confirm your employment, the source of your down payment and other aspects of you financial circumstances. Granted, a pre-approval is more time-consuming (and possibly more stressful) than a pre-qualification. The additional due diligence is exactly why the pre-approval carries more weight.

Effective for FHA Streamline 203 K purchase (funding) approvals on or after January 30, 2012, the maximum repair limit increased from $15,000 to the product maximum, currently $35,000, as long as the purchase plus repair funds remain within Minnesota Housing’s current Acquisition Cost Limits.

A recent survey published by the real-estate site Trulia shows that 70 percent of Americans still consider home ownership a central part of the “American Dream” — a number unchanged since January, when Trulia last performed this survey, despite months of weak economic performance.

Moreover, Trulia found that nearly two-thirds of young people — 65 percent of those aged 18 to 34 — also consider home ownership to be part of the American Dream, even though ownership figures within that group have slumped since 1980.

According to the National Association of Realtors® 2011 “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers”, first-time home buyers are willing to compromise more than repeat buyers when it comes to space and upgrades.  While first-time buyers have wish lists too, they are most driven by finding a home that offers a reasonable monthly payment.

Overall, the top three things that buyers want are a great room instead of a formal living room, a walk-in closet in the master bedroom, and a laundry room.  First-time buyers also want the same thing, but they are more likely to be satisfied with a small laundry room without an attached mudroom and a smaller master bedroom and smaller walk-in closet.  First-time home buyers tend to rate energy efficiency high on their wish list.

One thing that first-time buyers are not willing to compromise on is buying a home that is in need of repairs.

The Federal Reserve announced that short-term interest rates will likely stay near zero for nearly three more years, a move that is expected to spillover to long-term mortgage rates for home buyers and home owners.

In August, the Fed had made a rare move to say it would keep rates near zero until at least mid-2013. The Fed said Wednesday that the economy still needs more help and it will now extend that period to 2014.

The FHA announced last year that it would cut seller contributions from 6 percent to 3 percent for purchases using FHA insured loans.  Seller concessions, such as seller assistance to buyers in closing costs, play a big part in homes sales and in closing real estate transactions with FHA financing.

Rather than an across the board 3 percent ceiling on all FHA mortgages, the policy would permit higher seller contributions, probably between 4 and 5 percent, on smaller loan balances.  Meanwhile, the 3 percent cap would be mandatory on all loan amounts above some yet to be determined limit.

It is expected that FHA will announce the changes to its policy in April, 2012.

Existing-home sales continued on an upward trend in December, rising for three consecutive months and remaining above where they were one year ago according to the National Association of Realtors®.

December existing-home sales rose 5.0 percent.  For all of 2011, existing-home sales rose 1.7 percent to 4.26 million from 4.19 million in 2010.  Existing-home sales are based on transactions from multiple listing services that include sing-family homes, townhouses, condominiums and coops.

Record low mortgage interest rates, job growth and affordable home prices are bringing more consumers into the market.

Confidence among builders is at its highest level since June, 2007, yet another sign that the new-home market is finally perking up after coming off some of its darkest days on record this past year.

For the fourth consecutive month, builder sentiment for newly built, single family homes was on the rise, according to the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

More encouraging is that the latest increase in January is “universally represented across every index component and region” said Bob Nielsen, NAHB chairman.

There have now been several months of gains in single family housing starts and sales indicating a gradual but steady improvement for the housing markets nationwide.