Home Prices Across the Country
As the old saying goes: All things in real estate are local. So here's a look, based on data from the National Association of Realtors, at some other big cities around the country and how they are doing in the first quarter compared to last year.
As a point of reference, the median price nationally for an existing single-family home is $169,000, down 13.8 percent from last year.
Phoenix -- Median Home Price: $129,200, down 41.9 percent. Arizona has been ground zero for the housing bust. In Phoenix, developers built countless new homes ever further away from the city center on undeveloped plots of land. As credit collapsed, gas prices climbed and traffic worsened, those neighborhoods fell out of favor. Thanks to low down payments, many homeowners in the Phoenix area now owe more on their loans than their homes are worth.
Chicago -- Median Home Price: $185,600, down 25.6 percent. You might expect steep home declines in some Chicago suburbs such as Joliet, which had a high level of subprime loans. But now, even homes in tony neighborhoods like Lincoln Park are expected to fall roughly 15 percent.
Houston -- Median Home Price: $138,500, down 6.7 percent. Energy-rich Texas has done better than most of the country through the recession. As the home-construction market that fueled so many local economies collapsed, Texas cities were able to fall back on rising oil and gas prices. While prices in Houston are down just 6.7 percent, things are even better in Dallas, which just has a 4.7-percent decline. Prices in Austin are down just 1.2 percent.
Los Angeles -- Median Home Price: $303,500, down 34.1 percent. Southern California was home to Countrywide -- the once-mighty mortgage lender -- and also became one of the first markets to collapse. Even Long Beach, Santa Ana and other parts of the sprawling city now are suffering. But L.A. is also one of the first cities to show signs of rebirth, with first-time homebuyers once priced out of the market now apparently dipping their toes back in.
