MarketWatch reports on the list of best opportunities for real estate investors in housing focusing on those areas with renewed job growth, shrinking inventories and those in which demand has yet to pickup to a level significantly driving up prices.

Many of these more desirable markets include being a college town, vacation destination, or state capital

1. Tucson, Arizona — $170,000 median price — values up 12 percent from a year ago, 33 percent of all sales were for cash, college and vacation town
2. Austin, Texas — $229,500 – strong economy, university town and state capital and a market that  really did not participate much in the national housing bubble
3. Kansas City Missouri — $134,950 – inventory down 21 percent in the past 12 months and values up 4 percent
4. Baltimore, Maryland — $239,500 00 values up 3 percent with market benefiting from spill-over effect of Washington, DC, economy
5. Fort Worth, Texas — $160,000 – strong economy, home values up 8 percent in past year, and like Austin, did not have as much housing bubble participation
6. Salt Lake City, Utah — $195,000 – inventory down 30 percent in past year and home values up 5.5 percent, vacation rental potentials
7. San Jose, California — $468,888 – strong rental market with soaring rents, market likely to be driven by new Facebook millionaires
8. Raleigh, North Carolina — $215,000 – 95 percent apartment occupancy rate, 24 percent reduction in inventory and home prices up 7.5 percent – vacation and college town
9. Milwaukee, Wisconsin — $175,000 – inventory decline last year of 21 percent, strong economy (6.9 percent unemployment rate)
10. St Louis, Missouri — $159,000 – Realtor.com looks at a longer-term market appreciation

Tags: existing home sales • home sales • Home value • job growth • top 10 list