SAN FRANCISCO, June 20 (UPI) -- Housing prices have been moving up in parts of the San Francisco area, suggesting the market is recovering, industry analysts said.
MDA Dataquick Information Services reports four consecutive months of rising prices in Santa Clara County around San Jose, and three consecutive monthly increases in Contra Costa County on the east side of San Francisco Bay, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
The market also seems to be reviving in the San Diego area and the Phoenix area, asl well as in parts of northern Virginia, Ivy Zelman of Zelman & Associates said.
Couples like Denise and Steve Petrosky, who bought their first home, are contributing to the up-tick. In February, they paid $374,900 for a house in Morgan Hill in Santa Clara County that sold for $610,000 three years ago.
"Basically, we had set a budget what we could afford, which was below $400,000," Denise Petrosky said. "When the prices came down below that, we bought, because we could afford to."
However, unemployment has climbed to 11.5 percent in California and analysts say a second wave of foreclosures could disrupt the market.
