There was an article in Cnnmoney that I read at the end of 2006 that Wilmington was ranked in the top 10 places to buy now(2006). They projected that the city is prime for a population expansion of 10% and it's location as a vacation/2nd home hot spot. The article did mention that nearly 40% of the houses are held by speculators or partial year residents. Speaking nationally, every article I have read projects home values and prices to fall more in 2009 as the subprime mess is not fuly over, most projections even predict fall through 2010. It is a buyers market so if you have the ability to buy and hold for 5yrs or more years a nice profit can be made. Personally, I'm a stock market guy...even when the broader market it down money can always be made...love the stock market..been riding the 4 horsemen of technology for the last 5 years.