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The median sale price of a previously owned home in the Charleston area rose 9.7 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to a year earlier.
It wasn't the highest increase in the nation, but it was well above the national average of 4.9 percent, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday.
The median price of a previously owned home in our area increased from $110,500 in the fourth quarter of 1997 to $121,200 last quarter, according to the report.
Charleston topped the national list in the fourth quarter of 1997, when the median price of an existing home rose from $94,700 a year earlier, for a 16.7 percent increase.
Charleston's median resale price increases also led the nation the second and third quarters of 1998.
Median is the midpoint, meaning half sold for less and half for more.
The biggest increases last quarter were posted in Lansing, Mich., where the median resale price rose 15.7 percent from a year earlier.
Three of the five cities with the largest gains were in Michigan. The other four cities were: Davenport, Iowa, 13.3 percent; Jackson, Miss., 13.2 percent; Kalamazoo, Mich.; 12.5 percent; and Saginaw Bay, Mich., 12.1 percent.
The national median resale home price last quarter was $131,000, up from $124,800 a year earlier.
Prices last quarter ranged from $70,900 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, to $325,800 in San Francisco.
Median prices rose faster than the inflation rate in 102 of 129 metropolitan areas surveyed, the report said. Consumer prices rose 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter.
Regionally, the Midwest showed a 7.1 percent gain to a median of $114,400; the West, 6.9 percent to $174,400; the South, 5 percent to $115,300; and the Northeast, 2.9 percent to $148,200.
ED: Dave Munday can be reached at 937-5720 or at DMunday@PostandCourier.Com.
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