Now don't get too excited, potential SoCal homebuyers, but April's housing prices saw the smallest increases since September 2012, according to the latest numbers from DataQuick. The median price only increased 13.2 percent (to $404,000), also the smallest jump since September 2012. Economists seem mostly excited because this could be an indicator that the incredibly-difficult-to-enter housing market might be leveling out. (It's just one good month, after all.) "Prices now are about where they should be — given how high rents are in Los Angeles," the director of USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate tells the LA Times. (More on those high rents here.) Meanwhile, the total number of sales is down once again, but April's drop was the lowest year-over-year drop since October, when "the descent" of sales numbers first began. "If the inventory grows more, which we consider likely, it's going to make it a lot easier for sales to reach at least an average level, which we haven't seen in more than seven years," said a rep for DataQuick.
· Southland home prices rise the least since 2012 [LAT]
May 14, 2014