A 2.9% INCREASE IS WELCOME IN ANY QUARTER!

Right now, we are not seeing the kind of price drops that indicate a "housing bubble". And, why would anyone be surprised if the rate of appreciation is much less today than the spectacular rates in the past 12, 18 and 24 months?

If you're finding it hard to make sense of the conflicting signals on the housing market, you're not alone. Summing up the report, OFHEO director James Lockhart concluded, "These data are a strong indication that the housing market is cooling in a very significant way. Indeed, the deceleration appears in almost every region of the country."

Right now, we are experiencing great job losses in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan which is hurting their housing markets. However, in Arizona, we still have fabulous job growth which will help prop up what has been a slow market.

But in an interview with Fortune, OFHEO chief economist Patrick Lawler seemed to take a different tack. "The big theme is that prices are still going up in most of the country," he says. "Housing is different from stocks. We wouldn't expect huge drops."

What does it mean for you? If you want to sell your house, local conditions mean much more than national stats. But there's little point in holding out for the kinds of prices your neighbors were getting last year. In the current environment, chances are that the longer you wait to sell, the less money you'll get. But if you've owned your home more than a year or two, chances are also good you'll end up with a nice profit.

The Home Price Comparison Index allows you to quickly approximate how much your home might cost in any of over 340 markets across North America.

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