Last month, half the people who bought homes in Maryland paid less than $237,000 and half paid more. That's the median sale price -- and it's 23 percent less than the peak in 2007.
That's a $70,000 drop, for those of you who prefer dollars to percents.
Like most reporters, I'm in the habit of comparing year over year, but it's useful to take the longer view. Or painful, if you happen to have bought around the peak.
Maryland home sales are well below the peak as well: about 2,800 last month vs. 6,000 (!) in February 2005. (Sales were 20 percent above the Feb. '09 trough, at least.)
But back to price:
It's probably no coincidence that the median is solidly in the range that many of you say you'd pay for a home, if you were buying today. The $200,000 to $249,999 price range was the second most popular in a recent Wonk poll, chosen by 17 percent of you. Narrowly edging it out: $300,000 to $399,999 -- which is, after all, a bigger range.
No. 3, with just over 12 percent: $400,000-$499,999.
No. 4, with just under 12 percent: $150,000-$199,999.
No. 5, with 11 percent: $250,000-$299,999.
Throw the $200s together, and they're tops, followed by the $100s ($100,000-$149,999 was the sixth most popular choice by itself). Which suggests that you beloved readers are a lot like the buyers out there right now.
A number of you would buy more expensive digs -- 16 percent chose price ranges at or above $500,000 -- and a few opted for under-$100,000 homes.
Meanwhile, a dozen of you said you can't afford to spend a dime on a home. These topsy-turvy days, that just might be because you already have one.
Does your mortgage or rental payment comfortably fit your budget?