Home Prices Continue To Rise In Walnut Creek

The housing market continues to heat up in the East Bay.

Home prices rose again in April as did the number of building permits being issued by cities. In addition, foreclosures are on the decline.

The website DataQuick reports the median price for all types of dwellings in the Bay Area was above $500,000 for the first time since 2008. That’s a 17 percent increase since March and a 30 percent hike from a year ago.

In Alameda County, the median sale price is now $510,000, a 36 percent increase from April 2012.

In Contra Costa County, the median sale price is $412,000, up from about $300,000 a year ago.

In Walnut Creek, the median sales price in March was between $411,000 and $732,000, depending on which zip code a house was in. The increases ranged from 40 percent to 164 percent from a year ago.

Due to a lack of inventory, home sales have declined. In Alameda County, they were down 3 percent from a year. In Contra Costa County, the decline was 4 percent.

In Walnut Creek, there were 130 homes sold in March, less than March 2012.

Meanwhile, RealtyTrac reports the number of single-family building permits nationwide increased 27 percent in the first quarter of 2013 to the highest level since 2008.

At the same, the number of foreclosure starts nationwide declined 27 percent to their lowest level since 2006.

In fact, the number of building permits issued and foreclosure starts were roughly the same for the first time since 2007.

In Walnut Creek, ten building permits were issued during the first three months of this year compared to one in the same time period last year. There were 27 foreclosure starts, compared to 93 in the first quarter of 2012.