Home Prices On The Rise

Don't look now, but the housing market might actually be ready to rebound after a seven-year slump.

An article in the Los Angeles Times reports that a leading index showed home prices in the United States' 20 largest cities rose 1.6 percent in July to their highest level in two years.

The rise was the fourth straight monthly increase and the third straight month prices rose in all 20 cities, according to the Case-Shiller Price Index.

That trend is also apparent in the East Bay.

Wayne Gregori of The Gregori Group real estate company said home prices in various parts of the East Bay have shown improvement recently.

"It's happening all across the board," Gregori said.

Gregori said prices in general did show a bump in July, then slid a little in August and are back on the upswing this month.

In San Leandro, for example, the median price for a single-family home is $385,000, up from $350,000 in July.

In Pleasanton, the median price has increased from $960,000 in July to $1.01 million this month.

In Oakland's Rockridge area, the median price has jumped from $705,000 in July to $745,000 today.

There are some exceptions. In Danville, the median price has slipped from $1.05 million to $1.03 million.

In Livermore, it has dropped from $685,000 to $676,000.

Gregori, however, said the seven-day trend is showing an uptick in East Bay home prices.

He said the biggest problem is a lack of homes for sale. Banks are limiting the number of houses they put back on the market.

"We have very little difficulty selling a house. It's a good time to sell," said Gregori. "There just isn't a lot of inventory."

Gregori said there are low interest rates, pent-up demand and still reasonable prices to fuel the market.

He noted he believes the housing market is heading for recovery, but it may take as long as 10 years for the backlog of foreclosures to be cleared.