Talking Points …

  • According to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.), California’s distressed housing market is now just a fraction of what it was during the Great Recession, thanks to vastly improved home prices over the past five years.
  • In January 2009, 69.5 percent of all homes sold in California were distressed, which includes short sales and real estate-owned (REOs) properties. Five years later, that figure has shrunk to 15.6 percent.
  • During the same time period, California’s median home price has soared more than 64 percent from $249,960 in January 2009 to $410,990 in January 2014. Also, the statewide share of equity sales hit a high of 86.4 percent in November 2013 and has been above 80 percent for the past seven months.