Seven of the 10 best performing housing markets in the U.S. are located in California, Oregon and Washington, according to Pro Teck Valuation Services.
"Washington and California are seeing some of the nation's lowest levels of inventory," says the Waltham, Mass., real estate valuation company.
Five of best markets (Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Merced, San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura) are in California. The other two are Bellingham, Wash., and Bend-Redmond, Ore.
The top ratings are based on price appreciation over the past 12 months, the current sales price and the current inventory of homes for sale.
Rounding out the top 10 markets is Nassau County-Suffolk County, N.Y., along with Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids in Michigan.
"Foreclosures as a percentage of sales are a very important indicator," says Tom O'Grady, the chief executive of Pro Teck Valuation Services. "None of our top 10 metros have more than 10% of sales from foreclosure, and most have seen a 50%-plus reduction in the number."
Nine of the 10 bottom markets are in Florida where foreclosures continue to represent a significant share of sales.
