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Economy

Study Says California Home Prices On The Rise

New data out today show the Western U.S., including California, is leading the country in home price recovery. The numbers compare home values nationwide from the past four months – March through June – with the previous three months – December through February.

“The West out-performed all of the regions that we track, came in very strong with a 3.5% quarterly gain, on the year-over-year it’s up 4%," said Alex Villacorta. Villacorta is with the Truckee-based house-price tracking firm Clear Capital, which released the numbers.

California by itself saw a 2.8% quarterly gain and year-over-year growth of 2%. About one-in-three-homes is still bank-owned or an “REO.”

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Villacorta says one factor that’s driving price growth is rental rates are increasing and vacancies are decreasing, creating a demand for more rental inventory and driving up values of homes in the lower end of the price spectrum.

“There’s a lot of distressed inventory out there ready for tenants to move right in after some repairs. So with that dynamic, we’re really seeing this resurgence of REOs now being a desired asset. In California we see this especially."

Villacorta projects prices in California will increase another 5% over the next six-months