Have we reached the bottom?

Have prices started to climb?

I did a quick comparison of sold condos for 3 different time frames in Rancho Santa Margarita. I looked at condos from 900 to 1200 square feet. I pulled sales data from the three following time frames:

12/1/2008 through 1/31/2009

1/1/2009 through 3/1/2009

9/1/2009 through 10/18/2009

Anyone who is working in this market can attest to how it's changed over the last 9 months. We have gone from a lot of bank owned properties, to almost none.

We are seeing HUGE demand in this sector with several offers on every condo that is reasonably priced, and is not a short sale.

We are seeing several ALL cash offers.

We are witnessing FHA, first time buyers being forced to the sidelines as investors swoop in and grab these homes at bargain prices.

In the first time frame above, the Median selling price per square foot was $256.34. That dropped to $252.30 for the second time frame. Prices have since risen to $254.29.

While the price increase seems insignificant, extrapolated over a 12 month period equates to a 1.5% increase - which in my opinion equals healthy growth.