A wise approach to the stories of life from an icon in broadcasting.  Also a wise approach to the questions of real estate values.  The following chart shows median price for the Twin Cities Region, Single-Family, broken out by price range.  Seasonal variation is controlled by looking at December only for 2010, 2011 and 2012.  If you are in the upper middle price range, $200,000 to $300,000, values have changed very little.  Just a guess, but I would say this range of value has fewer distressed sales in the mix than the lower ranges, and fewer new construction properties than the upper quartile.  So the bottom of the market is showing the most improvement, and pent-up demand for new construction, combined with low interest rates, is driving the high end.  Just my $.02 worth, which is a true bargain considering it is free to my readers.