- In L.A. County the median price is $335,000 up nearly 5 percent
- In Ventura County the median price is $384,000 up by 5 percent
- In Orange County the median price is $445,000 up 6.5 percent
- In Riverside the median price is $210,000 up 14 percent
- In San Bernardino the median price is $170,000 up just over 14 percent
That's closer to normal, but what's not normal is trying to get a mortgage loan today versus three years ago -- especially if a buyer needs a jumbo loan over $417,000.
"The requirements to get those loans are very difficult," said Jamil Atcha of Intercap Lending.
Another problem with the housing market today is that one-third of SoCal home sales involve foreclosure resales. That wasn't the case three years ago.
Meantime, the California Housing Finance Agency on Wednesday protested the amount of federal funds coming to California to stop foreclosures in the first place.
"California has received $700 million to address foreclosure prevention in the state," said Yvonne Maria Jimenez of One LA-Industrial Areas Foundation. "And $700 million sounds like a lot of money, but when we are facing over 600,000 foreclosures in the state of California it's not enough."
But what is getting back to normal are the requirements you need to make the mortgage loan process go smoothly.
Here is a list of the things you will need:
And what might be driving this new normal in the housing market are investors. They are jumping into the market with flipping or renting their properties and nearly 25 percent of them are paying cash.
