With its white-hot housing market, many buyers across California are finding that they need to pay excessively high prices for older, less modern homes. Kenny Slaught notes that prices have been steadily increasing after 2008, and common reference, the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller home price index, showcases Los Angeles home prices rising to their highest point since October 2007 during April of this year. The market has moved beyond mere recession recovery. Southern California’s larger metropolitan areas are closing in on their former peaks. Slaught says the growth is due to a number of factors, which include interest rates, a steady job market, and supply and demand. As current 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages are standing around 3.5% or less, these enticing numbers are very close to the 3.31 percent record low hit in November 2012, and make this a prime time to buy. These historically low rates, alongside strong employment numbers, such as a 2.4% gain in Los Angeles County and a 3.5% rise in Orange County, make it clear just why values have appreciated so rapidly. And while home prices vary considerably statewide, the high asking price of higher-end homes outpaces all other states with the exception of Hawaii. This feverish demand for housing cannot currently be upheld by the slim supply available, forcing many first-timers to opt for condominium-style units that are readily available and within a more modest price range.

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