A new report out Tuesday shows the real estate market in the Bay Area is hot.

San Francisco home prices have surged nearly 25 percent in the past year; the biggest increase in seven years. That’s more than double the nationwide average of major cities.

According to the SP/Case-Shiller index that ranks metropolitan cities, Las Vegas reported the next biggest jump at 23 percent, followed by Phoenix at nearly 21 percent.

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Article source: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=9190210

It’s a good time to sell your house. Home prices in 20 major markets are at their highest in seven years. You can bet the San Francisco Bay Area is on the list.

The S P/Case-Shiller home price index calculated growth rates for a 12 month period ending last February. They looked at 20 major markets and found home prices went up 9.3 percent.

The housing recovery’s been driven by near record low mortgage rates, lower unemployment and more buyers than sellers.

This last factor is a big one in California and the Bay Area where the inventory of homes on the market is one of the tightest in the country.

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Condo sales in Miami were up 134 percent in January year-over-year, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. That’s not a typo.

“The Miami market continues to outperform the rest of the nation mostly due to the strong impact of international buyers and record affordability,” said Jack H. Levine, Chairman of the of the MAR. International buyers, low prices, and the weak dollar are certainly pushing the sales, but with those sales is coming a new phenomenon not seen since the housing boom.

Yes, prices for condos are down 36 percent annually to a median price of $91,200, but those prices are beginning to stabilize, despite the fact that there are about 3600 vacant units on the market in downtown Miami alone. Huh? How do prices stabilize with a three to four year supply??

“I think the way you get prices going up is by artificial price setting,” claims Peter Zalewski, principal at Condo Vultures, a real estate sales and consulting firm.

“I’m not going to use the C word, collusion, but there’s a certain price mechanism that all of the owners are starting to abide by and adhere to.”

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