California home prices in November were up 9.3% from a year ago. The figure comes from Clear Capital - a company that monitors home prices.
"There's a long way to go but the state's really on the right path."
Alex Villacorta with Clear Capital says nationwide, home
values are up by only 4.6%. He says California's numbers are more
dramatic because the state saw some of the biggest home price
declines.
Clear Capital's latest numbers also show a drop in sales of
distressed, bank-owned properties…also known as REOs. The REO
saturation rate in California is at 20%.
"And this is down off of a peak of nearly 60% back at the
end of 2008. So really in about 4 years the state of California has
dramatically cut back on the number of distressed sales which
signifies a shift in buyer demand, buyer preference from the
distressed side to the fair market side."
Villacorta says the housing market momentum could be at risk
if the nation goes over the "fiscal cliff" and people start to
change their buying habits.