What a difference five years can make.

In terms of real estate, the conversation then was about the burst of the housing bubble and plummeting prices in the midst of the economic downturn. Today, housing hawks have their eye on the price again. Only this time, it’s soaring house prices — and some approaching record levels — that is driving the conversation.

With Phoenix metro areas reporting some of the highest single-family home increases in the country, Arizona ranked eighth, nationally, among the largest Core Based Statistical Areas by Population for the month of March. According to CoreLogic’s March Home Price Index, cities in Texas took the top two rankings for the same month, followed by cities in New York and New Jersey, California and Georgia.