Source: OC Register, March 14th, 2013
Orange County home prices are up by the biggest margin in eight years, figures released Wednesday by Data-Quick Information Systems show.
The La Jolla-based housing tracker reported that the median home price, or price at the midpoint of all sales, was $477,000 in February. That’s up 22.3 percent from February of last year, which was the biggest annual price gain since November 2004. Orange County’s housing prices also are at their highest level since May 2008.
February’s median price was $7,000 above the previous high reached in December. It’s also up $107,000 from the post-crash price bottom hit in January 2009.
Orange County’s housing market has recouped 39 percent of the losses that have occurred here since home prices hit an all-time high of $645,000 in June 2007. During the crash, prices fell $275,000, or 43 percent, from that June 2007 high to the January 2009 bottom.
Home sales also ticked up 6.7 percent year-over-year in February to 2,252 house, condo and townhome transactions, Data-Quick reported. That’s the highest sales tally for a February since February 2007. But last month’s sales still were 14 percent below the February average of about 2,600 units over the past 26 years.
