Good news is finally starting to come out of the Golden State.
Recently released figures show that California sales of exisiting homes jumped 7.7% in February, to 506,430.
This is an increase of almost 25% over a year ago, according to the California Association of Realtors, which put out the data.
The association is so sure that economic indicators are positive, it has a new topic heading on its World Wide Web page: "Is the California economic recovery here to stay?"
Enthusiasts point to job growth in the state as a sure sign of recovery. "Job growth is really the hinge on which we see other things turn," said Thomas O'Donnell, economist with Smith Barney in New York. "In California, we're going to see going ahead at its present figure of 2.5%. It may get up to 3% once things really get rolling."
Mr. O'Donnell said the state's employment upturn is being driven by a new focus on the "three Ts," - technology, trade, and Tinseltown.
A resurgence in appearance of traditional California employment opportunities, like aerospace and government jobs "will now be the icing on the cake, rather than the cake," Mr. O'Donnell noted.
Other Calfornia-watchers are not so quick to call it a comeback.
"Home sales may be up, but compared to what?" said Nima Nattagh, market analyst at TRW Redi Property Data. Property values are still falling, household income is stagnant, and the mortgage delinquency rate in Southern California hit its highest rate in eight years last week, he said.
The median price for existing single family homes dipped 2% in February, the Realtors Association reports, to $170,920. This is a 1.2% decrease from a year ago.
But, several observers note that home prices have gone up in some areas of the state."Median home prices in) the second half of last year and the first quarter of this year have been better," said Federal Reserve regional economist Joseph Mattey.
The realtor association's survey shows the largest median home price increase from a year ago were in the High Desert and Orange County regions - 5.4% and 5.3%, respectively.
Northern California and the northern wine country area also registered increases in existing home prices in the past year, as well as the past month.
These pockets may have stabilized, but home prices in the Central Valley, Los Angeles, Monterey, Palm Springs, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and Santa Clara areas continued to fall in February. Palm Springs saw the worst decline: prices there dropped 14.6% in the month of February.
"It won't be a V-shape recovery," admits Mr. O'Donnell. "But, over time California has so many pluses that it will become a real strong sector of the U.S. economy again." The state's location, concentration of people with technological skills, and local governments changed, nurturing attitude toward businesses are some of these pluses.
