< bloginfo('name'); ?>

The final edition of the Trulia Trends Report for 2007 is hot off the presses. In the full report (PDF), we cover the latest market trends in price and popularity, and spotlight some great houses in the North Pole.*

Here are some highlights:

After an eight-month reign as “Most Popular City,” the windy city of Chicago was bumped from the top spot down to number two by Manhattan – perhaps New Yorkers agree with the Trulia taxi tops that state “…paying rent sucks.”

The constant media coverage of the credit crisis and housing market turmoil didn’t appear to faze luxury house hunters on Trulia in November. Half of the homes on the list of top 10 most-viewed properties were priced well over $1 million.

• The biggest–and most expensive–home to make our list was the historic 22,000 square-foot Milbank Mansion, a stone’s throw from Central Park. Listed at $59,000,000, this gorgeous Upper East Side home has 27 rooms and eight fireplaces; perfect for keeping cozy on a chilly New York night.

• The six-acre family-friendly estate in star-studded Beverly Hills, California is listed at $29,000,000. It has a total of 10 bedrooms, a separate “children’s wing” with six bedrooms and a huge playroom in the finished attic. It’s a perfect fit for the growing Spears family!

2007 has been a rough year for the jolly ol’ man from the North, and, no, we’re not referring to Bill Gates. The August toy recall and lead paint scare, along with talk of unionizing elves nearly put him out of work–and into foreclosure. Scuttlebutt has it, he may be house hunting.

Since he’s got a full schedule these days, we decided to help him get a jumpstart on finding some new digs in North Pole, Alaska:

	Here is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, gambrel-style home located a short walk from Chena Lake. It has two (toy) sheds, and a horse corral and a dog pen–perfect for boarding the reindeer.
	In the off-season, he might enjoy this four-bedroom, three-bathroom home on the Chena Slough. It is perfect for fishing or canoeing in the summer months, and it even comes with a greenhouse for keeping poinsettias and mistletoe alive year-round
	There is a three-bedroom, one-bath home with a huge deck and great family room with a wood-burning fireplace. It even comes with a detached garage that has a 1,000 square-foot attic for toy storage.
	The Mrs. might fancy this 2,590 square-foot, three-story home. It sits on nearly two acres and has a separate upstairs apartment–a great place to retreat from all the elves’ toy-making.
	Our pick is the cedar-sided two-story home with separate storage shed and outbuilding. It has an enormous deck and a Jacuzzi tub upstairs, and a wood-burning stove in the family room downstairs. Perfect for unwinding after a long sleigh ride around the globe.

Your New Year’s resolution should be “reading every Trulia Trends report in 2008″. Sign up for it here. (Trust me, you’ll get more use out of it than that dusty gym membership…)

*Alaska

Popularity: 6% [?]