O.C.’s Home Resale Prices Dipped in First Quarter : Housing: Across the U.S., prices rose in 109 of 127 metro areas. County’s median of $235,100 is third highest in the nation.

Orange County was one of only 18 metropolitan areas in the United States that saw housing prices fall in the first quarter of this year as compared to the same period in 1991, according to the National Assn. of Realtors.

Demand for previously owned homes drove prices up in 109 of 127 metropolitan areas during the first quarter, the Washington-based real estate trade group said Wednesday. But in Orange County, the median price of existing homes dropped 1.1% to $235,100. (Median price means that half the homes that were sold cost more, and half cost less.)

Still, the county’s median price of existing homes is well above the national median of $103,100. Orange County, as has been customary, was the nation’s third-most-expensive housing market, trailing only Honolulu, with a median home price of $342,000, and San Francisco, $243,900.

Los Angeles ranked fourth in the nation at $218,000. Prices for used homes in the L.A. area rose 4.8% from the corresponding quarter a year ago.

San Diego was up 0.4% to $182,700. The Riverside/San Bernardino area has the least costly used homes in Southern California, with a median of $137,500, up 3.2%. Sacramento showed the lowest prices in California, with its median of $135,600 up 0.2% from last year.

The national median price of an existing home was up 6.7% from the January-March quarter of 1991. Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa, has the least expensive homes, with a median price of $41,700.

For the second quarter in a row, Spokane, Wash., experienced the fastest-growing prices for previously owned homes, up 26% to $71,300. They had risen 19% from October through December.

Regionally, the Midwest saw the biggest price boosts. The median cost of a used home there was up 6.2%, to $81,000. It was followed by the South, where prices rose 6.1%, to $90,500.

Used home prices advanced 3.8%, to $142,900, in the Northeast and 1.9%, to $147,700, in the West.

Pricey Property

Even though its median resale housing price has dropped, Orange County still has the third-costliest existing homes in the nation. The county’s prices are more than double the national average of $103,100 but are a third less than those in the most expensive city in the nation: Honolulu.

Most Expensive

1. Honolulu: $342,000

2. San Francisco: 243,900

3. Orange County: 235,100

4. Los Angeles: 218,000

5. San Diego: 182,700

6. Newark, NJ.: 180,200

7. Bergen-Passaic, N.J.: 179,800

8. New York: 169,300

9. Boston: 168,200

10. Middlesex, N.J.: 160,700

Least Expensive

1. Waterloo, Iowa: $41,700

2. Youngstown, Ohio: 54,300

3. Peoria, Ill.: 54,600

4. Biloxi, Mass.: 56,600

5. Amarillo, Texas: 57,600

6. Oklahoma City: 59,800

7. Beaumont, Texas: 59,900

8. Topeka, Kan.: 61,800

9. Corpus Christi, Texas: 62,500

South Bend, Ind.: 62,500