The city's $152,500 median home sale price is up 6.6% from 2005. It boasts a low vacancy rate and an oil-rich economy. Throw in a bubbling entrepreneurial tech scene, and you've got four factors that put Houston on the top of our list of best places to buy a home.

San Francisco, Charlotte, N.C., Jacksonville, Fla., and St. Louis, Mo., are other areas buyers can feel safe investing in.

3. St. Louis, Mo.

St. Louis is a great place to settle because it's not overbuilt and is reasonably priced relative to income. Thanks to the attractive cost of living, many large corporations--including brewing behemoth Anheuser-Busch and financial heavies Stifel Nicolaus and Edward Jones--call St. Louis home. With a family friendly culture, and a steadily appreciating median home price of $145,400, the "Gateway to the West" is a great place to buy a home.

We examined the country's 40 largest metropolitan areas and looked at where home prices have appreciated over the last two years. We also measured tightening vacancy rates. These metrics indicate places where buyers are investing in homes in order to live, not just make a quick buck, and where the housing market is relatively solid. We culled our vacancy and home price information from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Association of Realtors.

The average vacancy rate across the major metro areas was 2.88%, and the average percent appreciation was just .07% over the last two years.

Cities where a mortgage payment was close to, or less than, the average rent were given a higher score. For instance, in Cleveland the average rent is $702, and the average mortgage is $565.78. With a lower monthly payment, tax incentives and the opportunity to build equity, it makes sense to buy here.

In stark contrast, San Jose, Calif., has an average monthly mortgage payment of $4,322.33, versus an average rent of $1,612.

The University of Texas campus provides young blood and research-related jobs to No. 2 city Austin. This state capitol is a hip area on the rise. The vacancy rate has fallen by 37.5% in the last 24 months to just 1.5%, despite a lot of building in recent years. And buying isn't much more expensive than renting. An average mortgage payment is $1,022.40, and average rent hits $767.

San Antonio, No. 5, and Dallas, No. 6, made the list thanks to affordable housing, which continues to appreciate. In both cities, the median home price hovers around $150,000, and a monthly mortgage payment of around $800 is pretty close to what one pays in rent. If you can pony up the down payment, these are great areas to live.