What is the average cost, nationwide (U.S.) of a new single-family home?

Hi bradbwh:

The most authoritative source for nationwide figures is the Federal
Housing Financing Board (FHFB). The most recent data they have is for
April 2005 and was released less than a week ago:

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE BOARD REPORTS MORTGAGE INTEREST RATES 
URL: http://www.fhfb.gov/MIRS/MIRS_press.htm
Quote: "The average loan amount decreased by $2,600 to $202,300 in
April, while the average house purchase price decreased by $1,700 to
$283,800....Technical note: The data is based on a monthly survey of
major lenders that are asked to report the terms and conditions on all
conventional, single-family, fully amortized, purchase-money loans
closed the last five working days of the month."

Search Strategy (on Google):
* "single family" home cost site:.gov 
* "single family" home cost average site:.gov
* "single family" home cost average 
* Federal Housing Finance Board

I hope this helps!

websearcher

The cost in the American heartland is considerably less. $150,000 gets
you something brand new, the basic three-bedroom, 2-bath, attached
2-car garage, with a full basement.

There really is a real estate bubble that is about to burst,
particularly in dense urban areas on the coasts. Most of the mortgages
being written today are either short term (5 years or so) or of the
variable interest variety.

On the prior comment "There really is a real estate bubble that is about to burst" 

I would say this is incorrect! In most Boom areas the top was reached
in the Summer of 2005! Since than it has been a slow, but steady
decline. For a really good recent article I would suggest one visit:
http://www.downtown-san-diego-real-estate.com/san-diego-real-estate-article-index.htm