While national home prices and sales may not recover to their historical levels until 2013 at the earliest, some local housing markets always outperform others in any given year.  Peoria is one such community ranking #6 on the 2nd annual Inman News "Top 10 Markets to Watch in 2012."

While popular culture often portrays Peoria as the quintessential American city, the area's overall economy is rather exceptional when compared with the nation as a whole. Its median sales price jumped 11.1 percent year over year in the third quarter, to $132,600 -- the highest appreciation rate among the 10 markets and the seventh-highest among 150 metro areas nationwide.

Despite the price jump, 81.1 percent of homes in the area remained affordable to median-income households. While the area experienced an above-average drop in sales between November 2010 and October 2011, the metro area's sales rate during that period in proportion to its population stayed about on par with the national rate.