[Excerpt from Hartford Courant news article by Rebecca Lurye] "Average owner-occupied home values increased from $270,900 to $274,600 last year. That’s up 1.37 percent compared to 5.3 percent nationwide. The percentage of families living below the poverty level — $24,250 for a family of four — fell from 8 percent to 6.8 percent of the population last year. Nationwide, about 10 percent of families live in poverty.