America's largest downtowns have become some of the best places to hide during the housing downturn. Here's a rundown of home-pricing trends in the central core of a sampling of the country's largest cities:

• Chicago The city's prized Gold Coast neighborhood had record sales prices in the last year, but bargains abound in the city's periphery. In Bronzeville, a gentrifying community, prices have dropped to as low as $85,000. Chicago's desirable North Shore suburbs are continuing to do well: Prices are up, though sales volume has declined.

• New York Manhattan neighborhoods like SoHo, the Lower East Side, Greenwich Village and the Upper West Side are all up in the last year. Brooklyn is also holding up well. Meanwhile, sales in New Jersey and Connecticut commuter suburbs are down 8 percent from the peak in mid-2006.

• Boston Prices in the core part of the city are flat or slightly higher over the past year, though sales are taking longer. However, Condo prices in suburban Brookline, one of the most desirable neighborhoods, are down about 7 percent. City neighborhoods like Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury are up about the same amount.

• San Francisco Prices are up strongly in the city's favorite neighborhoods, including the Financial District, Telegraph Hill and Russian Hill. Distant suburbs have weakened. Sales in Alameda and Contra Costa, across San Francisco Bay, are down 18 percent and 27 percent respectively.

• Los Angeles Without an active downtown residential core, L.A. is an anomaly, Riverside and San Bernardino counties are down sharply. Lower-priced homes in Palm Springs have lost about 24 percent of their value. Less-affluent cities like Ontario and Chino are down between 15 per cent and 31 percent. But prices are up in posh areas like Brentwood, Westwood, and the Hollywood Hills

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Jeff D. Opdyke (05/20/2008)

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