Dead Cities Still Have the Least Expensive Homes

In sum:

The median existing single-family home price increased in 88 percent of measured markets, with 144 out of 163 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) showing gains based on closings in the third quarter compared with the third quarter of 2012. Fifty-four areas, 33 percent, had double-digit increases, while 19 had price declines.

The markets with the highest priced homes, which are also among the ones in which houses are the least affordable, are those most people would guess:

The five most expensive housing markets were the San Jose, Calif., metro area, where the median existing single-family price was $805,000; San Francisco, $705,000; Honolulu, $679,800; Anaheim-Santa Ana, Calif., $670,700; and San Diego, where the median price was $485,000.

At the other end of the spectrum were primarily markets across the old rust belt, where manufacturing companies that provided hundreds of thousands of jobs have disappeared:

The five most affordable metro areas were Toledo, Ohio, with a median single-family price of $87,500; Rockford, Ill., at $88,900; Decatur, Ill., $91,000; Ocala Fla., $103,600; and Topeka, Kan., with a median price of $106,900.

Because manufacturing, at least in the rust belt industries, is not expected to rebound, the low home prices are certain to stay.

The national trend shows in particular how far these troubled markets are behind:

The national median existing single-family home price was $207,300 in the third quarter, up 12.5 percent from $184,300 in the second third of 2012, which is the strongest year-over-year increase since the fourth quarter of 2005 when it jumped 13.6 percent. In the second quarter the median price rose 12.2 percent from a year earlier.

Cold comfort for those who live in cities where home prices are closer to $100,000.