Equity sales, that is sales of non-distressed properties, now constitute two-thirds of all home sales in California compared to less than one-half only one year ago.  A report from the California Association of Realtors® (C.A.R.) puts the share of equity sales in the state in February at 67.1 percent, compared to 64.4 percent in January and 46.7 percent in February 2012.  This is the highest share of equity sales since April 2008.

Short sales made up 19.9 percent of sales in California in February compared to 21.5 percent in January and 24.8 percent a year earlier.  Sales of lender-owned real estate (REO) represented 12.6 percent of the home market in February, down from 13.7 percent the previous month and 28 percent in February 2012.  

C.A.R.'s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) rose 8.7 percent from a revised 101.4 in January to 110.2 in February but was down 8.2 percent from the index in February 2012 of 120.  The index is based on signed contracts and is a forward-looking indicator of future home sales. 

The annual decline of pending sales might be attributed to the tight inventory of available homes.   The Unsold Inventory Index for REOs was unchanged from January to February at 2.0 months while the Index for short sales was 3.3 month and for equity sales it was 3.8 months.