Such a price surge is not uncommon during a period of falling sales because fewer but higher-priced homes skew the average.

Because payouts for the housing agency's reverse mortgages are based only on the first $360,000 in home value, higher-priced homes do not fetch much more.

Even though the index excludes many higher-priced homes, and thus probably understates house price inflation, it is booming like never before.

That situation, in turn, could affect the market for those wishing to sell higher-priced homes.

The lake is surrounded by higher-priced homes and estates.

This is because builders are opting to construct higher-priced homes, which seem to attract less flak from review agencies.

There is no lack of older, higher-priced homes on the Island.

On Long Island, the weakening trend has been most pronounced for higher-priced homes.

She adds that higher-priced homes are typically on the water.

"The company's philosophy is to start with the higher-priced homes because people who could buy them are less affected by the downturn in the market," he said.