COLDWELL BANKER HOME PRICE COMPARISON INDEX FINDS $1.7 MILLION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NATION'S MOST EXPENSIVE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING MARKETS

ANNUAL COLDWELL BANKER HOME PRICE COMPARISON INDEX FINDS $1.7 MILLION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NATION'S MOST EXPENSIVE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING MARKETS

La Jolla, Calif. vs. Sioux City, Iowa: Waterfront Living Differs for Cities on Pacific Ocean and Missouri River

Annual Report of 398 Markets Includes 83 from Outside U.S.; Dubai Most Expensive Overall

Full press release available on hpci.coldwellbanker.com

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (Sept. 9, 2008) /PRNewswire/- Although both are waterfront cities, something besides the salt water separates La Jolla, Calif. on the Pacific Ocean from Sioux City, Iowa on the Missouri River - a $1.7 million dollar difference in the cost of homes studied in the 2008 Coldwell Banker® Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI). In an annual comparison of similar homes in 315 U.S. markets, La Jolla topped the chart as the most expensive real estate market in the nation with a $1,841,667 average home price. Sixteen hundred miles away in America's heartland sits Sioux City, the most affordable real estate market in America, where a similar home would cost $133,459.

La Jolla and Sioux City are not alone in representing California and the Midwest. In fact, eight out of ten of the country's most expensive housing markets are in California, and eight Midwestern cities make the list of the nation's 10 most affordable home markets.

Differing from most housing reports which compare median prices, the annual Coldwell Banker HPCI, which first launched in the late 1980s, provides an apples-to-apple comparison of similar 2,200 square foot, four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath homes in 315 markets across the United States, in addition to Puerto Rico, Canada and a sampling of countries/territories outside of North America where Coldwell Banker has a presence.

"This year's study comes at an interesting time in our nation's history with the impact of the housing correction and mortgage financing serving as critical economic issues in the presidential election," says Jim Gillespie, president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate. "While Americans move for lifestyle reasons, a home is usually a family's most valuable investment asset. For those who want to get into the housing market, I believe this is the smartest time in my 33 years in real estate to buy a home. Combined with the amount of homes on the market and historically low interest rates, the correction in prices has brought affordability levels down."

The cumulative average sales price of the four-bedroom homes surveyed in the 315 U.S. markets (including one in Puerto Rico) covered in the Coldwell Banker HPCI is $403,738, a 4.4 percent decline from the $422,343 reported in the 2007 Coldwell Banker study.

Through the comprehensive HPCI section on www.coldwellbanker.com, prospective home buyers and sellers can calculate what their homes may be worth in other areas in the United States and gather preliminary intelligence about the affordability of housing from one market to another.