Average sale prices fell in all parts of the metro area last month except Howard County, which recorded a 3.3 percent increase. The drop was largest in Carroll County, down 17 percent to about $300,000. That's below the average of four years earlier and is $75,000 less than Carroll sellers got in September 2005.

Average prices in the rest of the metro area were at or below 2005 levels, with the exception of Baltimore. The city's $170,000 price last month was $8,600 less than sellers got two years earlier but $7,200 more than the average in 2005.

There's also an interesting -- if depressing for homeowners -- discussion by economists about the "true" drop in prices and the number of people underwater on their mortgages.