Housing prices here stagnated locally for more than a decade, rising just 5.5% between 1991 and 2002. If you take inflation into account, local home prices actually dropped nearly 19% in that period. Recent indications are that there has been a slight upturn, but this area is still far behind the national average for housing values. Ironically, as assessed values decline, property taxes need to be raised in order to maintain current levels of services.