Real estate may be a regional business, but sales and price trends can vary dramatically within a single metropolitan area.
If you drill down you're likely to see interesting differences in prices.
The table below includes the median price for an existing home in 10 metropolitan areas, along with the median price for the two priciest municpalities in that area. (The data is courtesy of online real estate marketplace Zillow.com, which performed a special analysis for CNBC.com.'s special report, "Investor's Spring Guide To Real Estate.")
Prices cover all three kinds of properties in the area: single-family homes, condos and co-ops.
Take a look at how prices stack up. In most cases prices have performed better in the priciest towns.