Celebration time in RSM

No. 82 on CNNmoney.com's Best Places to Live 2009...RSM! A nice achievement, but these lists always make us chuckle. Louisville is No 1. Louisville, Colorado that is. Also on the list:Papillon, Nebraska (it's not just a dog breed any more).

In honor of that achievement, today's property is in Rancho Santa Margarita.

27 Via Encanto, 92688
Asking price: $499,900
Asking price/ sq ft: $263
Purchase price: $484,000
Purchase date: 12/22/03
Size: 3 beds, 3 baths, 1,900 sq ft (built in 1994)
MLS: S575944 (53 days on Redfin)
HOA dues: $175
Type: Single Family Residence
Style: Mediterranean
Stories: 2
Lot size: 2,893 Sq. Ft.
From listing: BEAUTIFUL 3 BEDROOM + LOFT SINGLE FAMILY DETACHED HOME WITH A CANYON VIEW!! This home is located in a Tijeras Creek Golf Course Neighborhood and features a living room with a fireplace, formal dining room, a bright, spacious kitchen, plantation shutters and a laundry room. The spacious master bedroom has its own private balcony with a view of the canyon and a master bathroom with a large tub and stall shower. Enjoy the fenced backyard with a View Of the Canyon! There is an Association Pool within the neighborhood, plus enjoy all the Rancho Santa Margarita amenties - Pools, Tennis, Parks, Lagoon & Lake!

Check out the price history of this property:

Originally bought in 1994 new (roughly near the bottom of the previous housing downturn) for $200,000.

Sold in 2003 - a little more than a decade later - for $484,000, an increase of $284,000 or 10.2% per year. Real estate really does double in value every 10 years! Or at least, it did here.

Now, about five and a half years later, the asking price is virtually the same as the sales price in 2003. We went from 10.2% yearly appreciation to virtually 0% appreciation. The bubble bust'll do that to ya.