What the median home price buys in Dallas

Dallas metro area median price: $151,800.

Trying to find a home in the city of Dallas at the median price "is tough," says Patricia Szot, immediate past president of the MetroTex Association of Realtors. "There are a lot of older homes and a lot of very pricey homes -- well over the median."

What a buyer can find: a two-bedroom condo or town house. "It would probably be from the 1960s" and need some renovation or updating, Szot says.

But travel to bedroom communities such as Richardson, and "it's pretty realistic for buyers who are looking for something to fix up or upgrade," she says. They'll likely find three-bedroom, two-bath homes with 1,700 to 1,800 square feet built anywhere from the 1960s to the 1980s, she says.

Buyers wanting newer median-priced homes can drive a little farther to communities such as Wylie and find places with larger yards and more square footage, Szot says. While a buyer can still pick up a three-bedroom, two-bath, it would offer 2,100 to 2,200 square feet and include some sort of bonus room -- and lots are typically half an acre or larger, she adds.

*Source: National Association of Realtors, fall 2011.