Home prices in the region last year appreciated at a slower pace than in the rest of the state and country, according to recent government data.

In the Durham metropolitan statistical area, which includes Chatham, Durham, Orange and Person counties, home prices rose an average 5.69 percent, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

In the Raleigh-Cary area, which includes Franklin, Johnston and Wake counties, home prices appreciated 4.74 percent.

It looks downright sluggish compared with the nation overall. Home appreciation in the United States was 12.95 percent. In Phoenix, appreciation was 39.67 percent -- the most of any market. And in North Carolina as a whole, home prices increased just over 8 percent, data showed.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight publishes data quarterly and tracks average house price changes in repeat sales or refinancings of the same single-family properties. It bases its numbers on information obtained from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which form the largest database of conventional mortgages that conform to certain limits. The database has 31.2 million repeat transactions collected over 31 years.

While local homeowners might not be thrilled with the returns, economists say the Triangle likely is better off being out of step with the nation. The home market has drawn close scrutiny, and many pundits expect it to cool. They say home values could actually decline in some places that had soaring appreciation.

That means people who used their homes as piggy banks, tapping into rapidly rising home values by using home-equity lines to buy big-screen televisions and other goodies, could find an end to their extra cash. As that happens, spending could slow, and markets defined by frothy home prices could suffer.

Since the Triangle has not been wrapped up in the housing bubble, the effects likely will be less dramatic here, economists said.

If it makes you feel any better, many Triangle residents did better investing in their homes last year than in the stock market. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose about 4.9 percent, including dividends, in 2005.