The nation's housing market reached a new low last week, as an index that tracks prices in large metro areas fell to its lowest levels since 2002.

Many markets are now experiencing the dreaded "double dip" in prices that seemed unlikely a year ago.

In the Triangle, which is not among the 20 areas included in the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index, the news is bad but could be much worse.

More proof came last week, when Pulte Homes paid $6 million for a 138-acre tract in Holly Springs off N.C. 55.

Within 30 days, Pulte plans to begin work on a 382-lot subdivision called Alston Ridge that will offer homes starting under $200,000.

"We see it as a huge opportunity," said Lawrence Lane, Pulte's division president for the Triangle. "The amount of traffic that Highway 55 gets, and it will only get better with the completion of (the southwestern leg of Interstate 540)."

Just the fact that Pulte sees enough demand to move ahead with such a project speaks to why many consider the Triangle a bastion of health compared to much of the rest of the country.

Pulte is among a handful of national builders now willing to start new Triangle communities if the location and the land costs are right.

Last week, Lennar held a groundbreaking for Inside Wade, a 307-home subdivision in West Raleigh.

"If you've got the right location I think you're able to maintain pricing," Lane said. "We're definitely not seeing the consistent price increases across the market. But we have seen prices stabilize. For us, that's the important thing. When prices stabilize I think consumers start to have a lot more confidence and come back into the market."

Pulte's investment is also another sign of how much better the housing market in western and southwestern Wake County has held up than some other places in the Triangle.

When the market corrected, many builders saw it as an opportunity to buy lots on that side of the county at discounted prices. The inventory of desirable lots has now largely been picked clean.

Pulte bought the land in Holly Springs from Five Star Development of N.C.

Five Star paid nearly $6.9 million for the property in July 2007, according to Wake County property records.

"Because of conditions in both the real estate markets and the financial markets, there aren't many lots being put on the ground," said David Morris, a Raleigh lawyer who represented Five Star.

Pulte expects to be selling homes in Alston Ridge by early next year. It will be the first community Pulte has built in the Triangle under the Centex brand since it acquired the builder in August 2009.

Centex focuses on first-time homebuyers, the section of the market that benefited the most from the federal tax credits that expired last year.

The tax credits helped reduce the inventory of homes priced under $200,000, particularly in western and southwestern Wake County.

Combine all those factors and you get some optimism.

"It's not all doom and gloom," Morris said. "If you look throughout southwestern Wake County. Not bad."