Over the past few months I have written a lot about the housing market, and almost all of what I have written has been negative, so when i ran across an article today discussing some markets where prices are thriving I felt it only fair to discuss.

According to a report from CNNMoney.com there are 11 metro areas that have enjoyed double digit growth in home values over the past twelve months. Just goes to show that the old saying is still true... when it comes to real estate, its all about location, location, location.

So why exactly are there some parts of the country where prices are still going through massive increases while other sections of the nation have seen dramatic drops in prices? There are a couple factors at play according to the report:

1. Strong job market
2. Solid population growth
3. Areas that never went through the massive boom earlier in the decade that sent prices sky high in most of the nation

So while homebuilders are suffering, and the National Association of Realtors shows price drops across the nation for ten months in a row now, some home owners are peacefully oblivious to the troubles that are going on all around them.

Let's take a look at a couple areas the article pointed out:

• Seattle, Washington : has seen a 12.3% increase in home values over the past year
• Salem, Oregon: home owners in Salem have seen their homes climb by an average of 15.6% over the past 12 months
• Farmington, New Mexico: home prices have climbed 12% in Farmington
• Cumberland, Maryland: a 17% jump in prices for residents of Cumberland.

You can find a slide show showing all the 11 areas showing double digit jumps in prices last year in the mentioned article.

For everyone living in the 11 growing areas... congratulations, you are among the lucky ones!

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last two years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.