..."The prices are down far enough now that people who had been sitting on the sidelines are now jumping back in," said Delores Conway, director of the Casden Forecast at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate...
...Indeed, the math has changed considerably for renters thinking about entering the condo market. Conway noted that monthly rents have increased about 50 percent in the last six or seven years to about $1,950 on average, while home and condo prices have fallen by double-digit percentages from their peaks.
"Housing and condo prices, especially condo prices, are now approaching the average monthly rent in L.A. County, when including the tax write-offs," she said...