Things are looking up for homeowners looking to move out of their old houses.
National home prices have seen their biggest gains since the spring of 2006.
Despite rising prices, local real estate agents say they are having no problems finding buyers.
"This home went on the market. We had 4 offers right away and sold for over asking price. We are seeing that a lot recently," Century 21 real estate agent Brandi Laffins said.
According to Core Logic, prices rose nationally by 9.7 percent in January compared to a year before.
Real estate tracker Zillow.com shows the median price of a home in California improved by more than eleven percent in the same period with Chico’s median price rising about seven percent.
Local real estate agent Brandi Laffins says that is due to low interest rates and the fact that there are just 128 single family houses on the market in the Chico area.
"That is a record low. We haven't seen numbers that low in years," Laffins said.
Because of the low inventory, that is expected to remain low as demand picks up through the spring and summer, Laffins says there has also been a lot of demand on local contractors.
"I think because we have a lack of inventory, new construction is getting a lot of attention," Laffins said.
With many developers selling homes as quickly as they can build them, local agents say they expect the trend of increasing home values to continue.
"I don't think we are going to see a big step up in price, but a bump definitely," Laffins said.
