2 reports show Calif. real estate on a roll

Two reports show California real estate on a roll.

California home sale prices came close to a 4-year high in July, with the pace of sales year-over-year growing for the fourth month in a row, the California Association of Realtors says.

“It’s hard to generalize the state of California’s housing market because the markets are so diverse and are performing so differently,” LeFrancis Arnold, the association’s president, said.

“REO-dominated areas (of homes seized by banks) such as those in the Inland Empire and Central Valley are experiencing sales constraints due to an extreme shortage of available homes,” he said. “On the other hand, a robust economy in the San Francisco Bay area and a relatively larger inventory at higher price levels is helping to fuel sales and prices.”

The July median price was the highest since August 2008, when it was at $352,730. July also marked the 5th straight month that the state’s median home price saw both month-over-month and year-over-year gains…

…In Orange County, prices slipped slightly, while sales had a dramatic increase. The association reported:

•The median house price was $551,160 in July, barely down from $551,510 the year before and down about 3% from June. The low since the housing crash was $442,170 in January 2009, CAR spokesperson Lotus Lou said in an interview.

•House sales in O.C. were up 32.1% from year-ago levels.

•The county’s “inventory” of homes for sale was at a 4-month supply, down a bit from 4.2 months in June and plunging from 7.5 months in July 2011.

Another indication of improvement in the state’s real estate sector: California added the most new construction jobs in the country in the year ended July, a construction industry report shows…

Read this article in full by the OC Register here: “2 reports show Calif. real estate on a roll”.