Smaller cities hold off housing bust

Although the national housing market is in bad shape, some cities are
hardly, if at all, suffering from the slump. Figures covering 150
metropolitan areas released by the National Association of
Realtors say median home prices are falling in 77 markets, but rising
in 73. Smaller markets, like those in Austin, Tex., and Grand Forks,
N.D. are holding up because they had less speculative building and minimal
exposure to the subprime loan crisis.