APPRECIATION OF HOMES BOOSTS CONFIDENCE LEVEL.

Byline: Dave Skidmore Associated Press 

The value of Americans' homes is increasing considerably faster than inflation in most of the nation's metro areas, offering support for consumers' confidence that might have been threatened by the gyrating stock market.

Nationally, the median home price - meaning half sold for more and half for less - increased to $131,100 during the April-June quarter, up 6 percent from a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.

That compares with an inflation rate in consumer prices of just 1.7 percent over the same period.

The markets with the highest median prices in the nation were San Francisco, $329,400; followed by Honolulu, $305,000; and Orange County, $261,500.

The lowest prices were in Ocala, Fla., $69,100; Waterloo, Iowa, $71,500; and El Paso, Texas, $75,200.

According to economists, the healthy gains in home values could help offset the threat to consumer confidence from the stock market's Asia-inspired turmoil, though by itself home value appreciation wouldn't be enough to offset a true stock crash.

In a sense, the stock market's turmoil and the housing market's vigor have the same cause: Asia.

Stocks are rocky because traders fear loss of business with Asia will cut deeply into U.S. corporate profits. At the same time, Asia's problems have motivated international investors to pour their money into U.S. bonds and that's lowered U.S. interest rates, including mortgage rates.

Of the 132 metro areas surveyed by the real estate group, only nine reported price declines. The worst came in Trenton, N.J., where the median dropped 5.4 percent to $135,400.

Other California and Nevada areas included in the comparison of prices were: Los Angeles, up 10.5 percent to a median of $191,300; Sacramento, up 9.8 percent to $127,600; Riverside, up 3.9 percent to $120,000; Reno, up 3.7 percent to $148,200; and Las Vegas, up 3 percent to $125,300.