Sacramento home prices are rising twice as fast as the national average - faster even than the pace set during much of the last housing boom.
The median home price in Sacramento County grew 22.4 percent from January 2012 to January 2013, tracking firm DataQuick reported Thursday.
That's the second-largest January-to-January Sacramento County home price increase in the last two decades, falling behind only 2005, the peak of the housing boom.
Sacramento County has, for the last few decades, cycled through successive real estate booms and busts, each larger than the preceding one.
Many real estate experts have argued that another boom isn't likely for awhile, given tight lending and a slow economic recovery. They may still be proven right.
Despite the fast growth in prices, most Sacramento County homes still sell for 50 percent cheaper than they did during the height of the last housing boom. Much of the price increases of the last year were driven by a real estate investor frenzy, with multinational firm Blackstone alone buying 1,000 Sacramento homes in just six months. Housing inventory is low.
But, if home prices increase at this pace for much longer, what, other than a boom, should we call it?
This chart shows the year-to-year percentage change in median home prices each January since 1992, according to DataQuick.
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