Median home prices are on the way up in New Orleans. (Photo: iStockphoto)
A recent report from the National Association of Realtors showed that while quarterly home sales were up 3.8 percent in the first quarter of this year, home prices were down nearly 16 percent from the year before, falling to $174,100, says the Associated Press.
But home prices aren't down everywhere -- using data from the Cyberhomes Quarterly Data Report, the blog has found a number of metropolitan areas where median home prices actually rose between the first quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of this year. The below are a few notable standouts:
| Metro area | Median home price Q1 (2009) | % price increase |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisc. | $204,800 | 19.07% |
| Fayetteville, N.C. | $140,000 | 15.7% |
| New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La. | $140,000 | 12% |
| Honolulu, Hawaii | $386,000 | 9.66% |
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y. | $185,375 | 7.09% |
However, despite these rises in median home price, these five markets all had large drops in the number of home sales over the same time period. Sales fell about 83 percent in Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisc; about 46 percent in Fayetteville, N.C.; about 47 percent in New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La.; approximately 44 percent in Honolulu, Hawaii; and about 82 percent in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.
While the sales data is pretty grim, one explanation for the falling home sales could be lower inventories of homes for sale -- which would be a good thing.
The price data goes to show that as they say, real estate is local -- some metro areas actually saw increases in median price despite the almost 16 percent dip in home prices seen nationwide.
So, keep track of your local market -- one way homeowners and sellers can do so is with Cyberhomes' Market Forecast reports, which include 12-month projections on what's happening in the real estate market in your neck of the woods.
Because as we can see, real estate data that's reported nationally doesn't always completely jive with what's happening in your regional housing market.
Readers: How's the housing market looking in your area?—Lauren Baier Kim