The
National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently reported that median home
prices in the United States rose a whopping 9.1% in the second quarter
of 2004 compared to that of the second quarter last year. According to
the NAR, the median value for a home is now $183,800.
Leading the way for
such a dramatic increase in median home price is Las Vegas, where median
home values rose 52.4% to $269,900. Orange County, CA, in suburban Los
Angeles, saw a 39% increase driving its median home prices to $655,300,
making it higher than that of homes in the San Francisco Bay area
(median home price $647,300) for the first time in history.
Of the 128 metropolitan
areas covered in this NAR survey, these two in California had the
highest median home prices. The lowest median home prices were in South
Bend/Mishawaka, OR ($93,800) and Syracuse, NY ($94,700). In South Bend,
the values rose 3.1% and in Syracuse, they were up 2%.
A few of these
metropolitan areas actually saw a drop in median home values. The
biggest decline was in Knoxville, TN, where home values went down 7% to
$131,400.