'Golden state' bounces back

According to the site, which takes data from its site to the period ending the second quarter of this year, the "golden state" cities of Oakland and Orange County, and the areas of Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc and San Jose, occupy the top four spots based on indicators such as inventory, median list price and days on the market. In Oakland, the median list house price has risen more than 40 per cent - from US$339,000 to US$479,000 in a year - the report found, while in Orange County, which had record numbers of foreclosures four years ago, the asking price has jumped 29.4 per cent.

Los Angeles-Long Beach, also in California, came in sixth, behind Seattle-Bellevue-Everett in Washington, and San Diego (California) came in ninth.

The California Association of Realtors (CAR) expects its home state market recovery to continue gaining momentum. In its 2014 California Housing Market Forecast, released on October 8, CAR sees sales gaining 3.2 per cent next year, and median prices increasing by 6 per cent, following a projected 28 per cent rise this year.

"The housing market has improved over the past year, and we expect this trend to continue into 2014," says CAR president Don Faught. "As the economy enters the fourth year of a modest recovery, we expect to see a strong demand for homeownership, as buyers, who may have been competing with investors and facing an extreme shortage of available housing, return from the sidelines." CAR's forecast projects US gross domestic product growth of 2.8 per cent next year, after a projected 1.8 per cent gain this year. With non-farm job growth of 1.9 per cent in California, it expects the unemployment rate in the state to fall to 8.3 per cent next year from 9 per cent this year, and 10.5 per cent last year. Mortgage interest rates, while nudging upwards, will remain at historically low levels, it says.