Condo prices sink

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The prices of condos and co-op apartments were down from their previous highs in the majority of metro areas around the nation, according to the latest figures compiled by the National Association of Realtors.

Condo markets mirrored the price trends for single-family homes during the past 12 months and in some cities, such as New Orleans and Sarasota, were even worse.

During the fourth quarter of 2006 the median price for a condo or co-op apartment in the United States slumped 2.1 percent from a year earlier, to $220,900.

Prices in 28 of the 49 metro areas surveyed were lower and prices in 38 cities fell from highs set sometime during the past four quarters.

New Orleans - where prices were 28.6 percent lower than 12 months ago - recorded the largest decrease of any metro area.

Many Florida cities suffered particularly hard hits, with the Sarasota/Bradenton/Venice area recording a decrease of 24 percent and Palm Bay/Melbourne/Titusville coming in at minus 22 percent. Prices in Cape Coral fell 14 percent.

The Reno/Sparks metropolitan area also recorded a double-digit decline with prices plunging 14.2 percent.

Several cities did buck the national trend. In Austin, Texas condo prices rose 16.5 percent, the highest growth rate in the nation. In the northern New Jersey/ Pennsylvania area that includes Newark, condo prices swelled 16.4 percent.

Regionally, the West had the worst year; prices declined 9.1 percent there. The West still boasts the most expensive condos with an average price of $257,200. The condo price slump also hit the South hard where the median condo sold for $178,500, down 6.4 percent from a year ago.

Condo prices rose 2.7 percent in the Midwest to $196,500 and 1.2 percent in the Northeast to $251,100.