UNITED MORTGAGE CAPITAL

Figures released Thursday, March 1, by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight indicate that while home prices grew nearly 6% nationally last year, national numbers masked the drama in local markets, where some cities boomed, some saw prices recover and others experienced dropping prices.

Overall, there was negligible growth -- 1.1% -- in the fourth quarter.

The slowest-growing home prices were in the following states:   Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota -- and Massachusetts, where appreciation had been overheated in previous years. Nevada, the once-red-hot stated, saw the fastest rise in home prices a couple of years ago, dropped to No. 40.

In the New York City, Los Angeles and Miami areas, growth fell faster in suburbs and outlying towns than in central cities. The 10 metro areas with the biggest price declines for the year were:

The hottest states,with sharp price increases, were Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.

When will the slump end?

Observers of the housing market are extremely cautious about predicting when it will hit bottom. They cite several reasons for their caution, including falling prices in many -markets, an increase of new homes and condos, the rising cost of money and the tougher guidelines for credit in the suprime lending market.