WHAT WERE THE ACTUAL NUMBERS?

The numbers were pretty good, if you like to see the median price rise in Orange County.  The prices jumped again as the February median price rose to $477,000, a whopping 22.3% change from February 2012.  The change from the previous month, January, was 6.7%  The total number of homes sold was 2,252.  The break down was 1,424 single-family resale, 679 condominiums and 149 new homes.  The new homes is where Orange County and all of So Cal is lacking.  Building permits are just starting to find a more robust number, to indicate that housing starts are making their comeback.  Unfortunately, the new homes don't go up over night, so it may be another year, before the market gets help there.  And it is helpful, because many sellers who wish to move up, currently have no place to move up, new homes typically provide that niche.  It is predicted here that the housing recovery will get even hotter as new homes hit the market in bigger numbers.  Fourth quarter foreclosure filings, Notices of Default plummeted to its lowest level in 6 years.  According to DataQuick, the quarter produced 38,212 NoD's, which is a 22% decline in those filings.  OC was down 70% in February of their filings of the same period a year ago.  Not only are economic times better, but lenders have shown their preference for short sales over foreclosures; along with more stringent loan qualifying guidelines and fewer lenders in the market, there has been a natural progression towards a healthier market.