Housing market unchanged

April's sales for L.A. County are way up from a year earlier, according to the Business Journal, while median prices are way down from a year earlier. But the April median of $303,000 is only slightly lower than for March, which means that a bottom might be approaching. Of course, Socal prices have been all over the map - the less expensive Inland areas continue to feel the brunt of the declines. In some parts of town, multiple bids have raised sale prices.

Agents at all levels of the market said that they are getting multiple offers on properties, and in some cases those drive up the price. "We had 50 offers on one home," Vera McCance, an agent with Century 21 U.S. Realty in Covina, said of a property that was listed for $350,000 but sold for $385,000. "It's crazy. Buying power is what's getting the home."