The number of actively selling projects is up 18 percent from a year ago, Reeb said. One reason is builders are building more, said Pete Reeb, a principal at Irvine-based John Burns Real Estate Consulting. ThatвЂ™s 13 percent above the average for an April in records dating back to 1988. New home sales are even hotter, rising 28.7 percent year-over-year to 466 transactions. If you have two equal (offers), it could be the tie breaker.вЂќ They want to know someone else will care about and love their homes as much as they do. One of Rael-AlbinвЂ™s clients enclosed a photo of herself and her husband holding a sonogram of their expected child. Some buyers are resorting to writing вЂњlove lettersвЂќ to sellers - that is, letters describing how much they love the home and how they plan to take good care of it. They might have to reduce their contingency timelines.вЂќ They have to be pre-approved (for a loan). They have to have their down payment accessible. вЂњThey have to have their finances in order. They have to be ready to win,вЂќ said Priscilla Rael-Albin, broker-owner of Re/Max Discovery in Anaheim Hills. Rates have been holding steady just above 4 percent for the past five weeks.Д«uyers вЂњhave to be on their game. Mortgage interest rates also continue to tempt buyers after dropping in late March, agents said. вЂ¦ If youвЂ™re not selling right now, somethingвЂ™s wrong with you.вЂќ Every house we put on the market, itвЂ™s taking a week (to sell) if it has everything. The four-bedroom, two-story house closed at $670,000 on April 28 - $20,000 above the asking price. Homes that are priced right and are in move-in condition are getting snapped up fast, often within two weeks or less, agents said.ДЄsa Teran of International Real Estate Services in Covina listed a La Palma house for $650,000, accepting one of eight offers within four days. The average number of sales per day actually went up 11 percent from a year ago. April had 2.8 percent fewer resales than a year ago.Д«ut last month also had fewer business days, in part because of the Easter holiday. New home sales accounted for most of that increase, while resales of existing homes appeared to be declining. Rising prices and fierce competition between homebuyers failed to put a damper on sales, however.Д¬oreLogic reported 3,309 transactions last month, 22 more sales than a year ago and the third highest tally for an April since 2006. In my office alone, everythingвЂ™s got multiple offers on it.вЂќ вЂњWe keep thinking, gosh, as interest rates creep up, prices are going to stabilize. вЂњPrices keep going up,вЂќ said Deb Shihadeh, an agent with First Team Real Estate in Tustin. Still, Orange CountyвЂ™s median has risen year-over-year for 60 straight months. Southern CaliforniaвЂ™s median remained 15.7 percent below the peak in inflation-adjusted dollars. Orange CountyвЂ™s April median, for example, remains $85,666 - 11 percent - below the price peak when adjusted for inflation. Once inflation is taken into account, however, home prices lag values from the bubble days of 2007. The regionwide median of $485,000 was just $20,000 - or 4 percent - below the record $505,000 reached in 2007. Los Angeles CountyвЂ™s median of $550,000 tied a record set a decade ago. Median home prices also set a record in San Diego County, rising to $525,000 in April.

вЂњJob and stock market growth, coupled with low mortgage rates and strong consumer confidence, continued to drive housing demand and keep pressure on prices,вЂќ said Andrew LePage, a CoreLogic research analyst.

Last monthвЂ™s existing single-family home median rose to $733,000, $1,000 below the 2007 high of $734,000. ThatвЂ™s up $3,000 from MarchвЂ™s record price and was $8,000 above the high reached during the housing boom. Condo prices also reached record highs for a second straight month, rising 7.3 percent in a year to $478,000.

Dapplegrey home for sale