FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Friday, February 15, 2008 WASHINGTON — Median home prices fell in more than half of the nation’s 150 metropolitan areas during the October-December quarter, a real estate trade group said Thursday.

But fourth-quarter data from the National Association of Realtors show that Texas was largely unaffected by the price slump.

Only one metro area in the state, Beaumont-Port Arthur, posted a decline in median price for a single-family home, down 5.3 percent, when compared with the year-earlier quarter. The median price in the Austin-Round Rock area rose 6.4 percent, one of the best results in Texas, the trade group said.

Of the 150 metro areas, 77 experienced price declines, with 16 showing double-digit percentage drops, the trade group said. The largest price declines were in Lansing, Mich.; Sacramento, Calif.; Jackson, Miss.; and Riverside, Calif., which posted price declines of 17 percent to 19 percent.

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