The booming real estate market in california

As we begin to see a return in the housing market there is no better example of things to come than in California. Currently the real estate market in California is booming, somewhat reflecting what everyone hopes is on the horizon for the real estate market in general. California is presently home to 7 of the top 10 cities for growth, showing positive signs for the economy and the housing market alike. The Huffington Post article below goes into more detail about this phenomenon. Click here to read the entire article.

Sacramento Real Estate Boom Leads Nation In Growth

By: Aaron Sankin

A woman walks towards a home for sale during a viewing for brokers in Leucadia, Calif., in November 2012. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

According to a report issued this week by Realtor.com, real estate in Northern California is booming -- especially in one housing market that was among the hardest hit of any in the country by the collapse of the housing bubble.

The report, which looked at the year-over-year increases in median home listing prices in housing markets across the United States, found that the Sacramento area had the largest gains of any metro region. This data suggests that sagging housing prices, which have been a drag on the economy in much of California's Central Valley for years, are not only beginning to rebound, but are doing so with surprising strength.

Five of the top 10 cities with the fastest growth are located in Northern California and two more are in the southern portion of the state.

(CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL LIST)

"In Sacramento, you have a desirable area that was hit really hard by the housing bubble, with a lot of foreclosures and a lot of overbuilding," said Alison Schwartz of Move, Inc., the operator of Realtor.com, who noted that the spike in prices in the area is largely a result of how far home values had dropped in the region during the recession.

During much of the 2000s, loose financing led to an oversupply of housing being built in the San Francisco Bay Area's far outlying suburbs in the run-up to the crash. Since then, there's been little new construction; so as demand naturally increases with the gradually improving economy, supply hasn't been able to keep up and prices have jumped.

Additionally, many homeowners in the region still underwater on their mortgages, making it impossible for them to sell and further drying up some of the liquidity that would otherwise be present in the market.

Click here to read the full article.