Ignore national reports of a sluggish real estate market, because the Bismarck-Mandan area is bucking the downward trend for single-family home sales and prices.

In fact, in the past year, the median price of single-family homes in Bismarck-Mandan increased by more than 14 percent, while the rest of the Midwest averaged a 2 percent drop, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

Bismarck's jump was in the top 20 highest increases reported, falling just behind the 14.6 percent increase in the price of existing, single-family homes in Los Angeles and Richmond, Va. The average increase in median sales price for the nation was 3.7 percent, with the northeastern states experiencing the highest regional jump at 6.3 percent.

The problem is the area's low inventory, said Nancy Deichert, association director of the Bismarck-Mandan Board of Realtors. And that low inventory leaves some first-time buyers in the lurch.

"There's that first-time home buyer price range"of $100,000 to $120,000 for a single-family home, Deichert said. "Because of the lack of inventory, (the buyers)are pushed into the higher-price market."

Deichert said there aren't as many existing homes for sale in the Bismarck market so far this year as at the same time last year.

In the first seven months of 2005, there were 1,029 single-family homes on the market. So far this year, there have been only 895.

"It does put a little crimp on the supply for people who are looking," Deichert said.

But while big cities across the rest of the nation are hurting from low sales numbers and the backlash of unsustainable appreciation in home value, Bismarck-Mandan is experiencing the opposite.

According to the data, the median sales price of existing single-family homes in Bismarck even edged above Fargo this year: Bismarck's median price was $138,600, and Fargo's was $137,200.

Fargo's appreciation in price was only 3.5 percent from 2005, according to reports. And it has more single-family homes on the market this year than last, with the inventory giving buyers more of a choice, said Dave Branson, a managing broker with Edina Realty in Fargo.

"What's going on here is we have the building boom of two years ago, so we have the inventory," Branson said.

Branson said Fargo is still growing, but not as fast as it was a few years ago. The demand for homes has slowed, giving first-time buyers the price range and the choices they're looking for.

"If it continues, some (homes) won't sell, or sellers will drop the price,"Branson said.

Don't expect that anytime soon in the Bismarck-Mandan area.

"When there's low inventory, the lower stuff starts coming up in price,"Deichert said, adding that the inventory this quarter of the year is a little better than earlier in the year.

Jerry Janz, a real estate agent with Bianco Realty, said the inventory for single-family homes could be loosening up in the near future, with some recent summer numbers indicating that more single-family homes are becoming available. "That means there's more inventory," he said. "That means price increases could slow down."

Deichert agreed, saying that because Bismarck-Mandan did not see the huge boom that other cities did, the recent double-digit appreciation in this year's real estate market probably won't last.

That alone could keep the single-family home prices more palatable, in comparison with the real estate booms in major metropolitan areas on the East Coast. The Realtor's association recorded a more than $700,000 median price for single family homes in San Francisco, only a 0.4 percent increase from 2005.

"Our growth was a more sustainable growth,"Deichert said.

(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or crystal.reid@;bismarcktribune.com.)