If 2009 was the Orange County housing market’s bottom, then here’s six things we may have learned as I peek at the 2009 full-year report from our pals at DataQuick. Sales momentum was real as year-over-year gains were found in 72 of the county’s 83 ZIP codes. So the excitement wasn’t just bargain hunters fishing at the low end of the housing pond. Curiously, numbers from the last few months of the year – and very early 2010 data – suggest shoppers are now eyeing pricier, newer homes. Is this an example of the natural evolution from a dead market to a bargain hunter’s paradise to – dare I say – more “normal” market? [Read this article]

