Data from real estate tracking firm First American CoreLogic show Duluth home prices are rising: up 4.2 percent between January 2008 and January 2009.

That's a bit surprising, given the national downward trend, reports the Duluth News Tribune.

And even data from the Duluth Area Association of Realtors show the median price of homes in Northeastern Minnesota slid 4.2 percent, to $143,000, during 2008.

First American CoreLogic, though, stands behind its numbers, which show the increase.

When asked about this apparent discrepancy, CoreLogic’s Lori Guyton told the paper that the company’s data are a better market gauge than the median home price.

“There could be a case where a high number of lower-priced homes are sold in a particular area,” she said. “In this case, using median prices to determine fluctuations in value could show a decrease in home prices for the entire area, when, in fact, that may not be the case.”

Guyton described the Home Price Index as a very complex analysis that takes numerous factors into account. “It incorporates more than 30 years' worth of repeat sales transactions.”

But Pat Johnson, president of the Duluth Area Association of Realtors and broker for Focus Real Estate Group, remains skeptical.

Still, both agree that the Twin Ports (Duluth and Superior, Wis.) housing market has faltered less than most communities in the region.