It's more -- comparatively -- good news for the Southern region again this week. This comes on the tails of a report from the National Association of Realtors published this Monday that shows the most recent data for roughly half of the metro areas in the U.S. are seeing price increases, with healthy gains in markets such as Oklahoma City.

These positive notes for Oklahoma are echoed by local experts as well.

Shelia Stringer of Claremore, Oklahoma reports to Realty Times that its a moderate buyers market -- and that while its a slow market -- it is doing really well.

In the South, while conditions are not as spectacular as they were in years past -- they are showing positive gains in all the right places.

Existing-home sales increased 2.1 percent to an annual rate of 1.99 million in February, despite being 22.0 percent below February 2007.

The median price in the South was $163,400, down 8.6 percent from a year ago. An area that is coming back from hard times, however, is New Orleans, Louisiana.

Our market expert, Polly Eagen, a broker for the area, is reporting that though there are many different markets in this area, the pricing has balanced out. The high end uptown market had seen a great increase -- with multiple offers and quick sells if priced right.

And finally we go to check in on the Austin area -- an area that has nearly boomed in spite of the floundering markets in other areas. Local expert Joseph Ranzani reports that "the sought-after areas with prices below $800,000 to $600,000 are doing good." He says, "The further away from Austin you go the more home you can buy for your money. And In some cases you can get a short sale."

Published: March 26, 2008

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.