Single-family and condominium/co-op prices

Median first-quarter metro area single-family home prices ranged from a very affordable $65,400 in the Saginaw-Saginaw Township North area of Michigan, to nearly 12 times that amount in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area of California, where the median price was $780,000. The second most expensive area was San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, at $701,700, followed by Honolulu at $620,000. The greatest single-family home price increase was in the Binghamton NY area, where the median price of $109,700 rose 11.8 percent from a year ago. Next was Peoria IL at $119,000, up 10.4 percent from the first quarter of 2007, followed by the Spartanburg SC metro where the first-quarter median price increased 10.1 percent to $130,300.

The figures on metro area condominium and cooperative prices - covering changes in 55 metro areas - showed the national median existing-condo price was $216,900 in the first quarter, down 3.0 percent from $223,700 in the first quarter of 2007. Twenty-three metros showed annual increases in the median condo price, 31 areas had price declines and one was unchanged.

Metro area median existing-condo prices in the first quarter ranged from $106,600 in Wichita to $546,700 in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont area. The second most expensive condo market reported was Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, at $343,700, followed by the New York-Wayne-White Plains area of New York and New Jersey at $333,800. The strongest condo price increases were in Bismarck ND where the first quarter price of $124,900 rose 36.4 percent from a year earlier. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner LA was next -- at a median price of $170,500 -- up 15.3 percent. Next was Wichita KS, where the median condo price of $106,600 rose 11.7 percent from the first quarter of 2007.

Because there is a concentration of condos in high-cost metro areas, the national median condo price sometimes is higher than the median single-family price. In a given market area, condos typically cost less than single-family homes. As the reporting sample expands in the future, additional area will be included in the condo price report.