The average price for single-family, re-sale homes jumped 36% year-over-year.

The median price jumped 35.8%.

The rapid decline in the number of bank-owned and short sales has been credited with moving the statistical pricing numbers up rapidly because bank-owned and short sales sell for a lower price than normal sales.

There is something to be said for that theory. In January 2012, 57% of all homes sold were either bank-owned or short sales. Last month, that number was 18%.

I expect as bank-owned and short sales become less of a factor in the market, price increases should start moderating.

April Market Statistics

The median price for single-family, re-sale homes reached $645,000 last month, which is the highest it has been since April 2008 when it was $658,000.

The median price is now only 28% below the peak which occurred in May 2007, and up 40% from the bottom of the market.

Sales of single-family, re-sale homes were down 10.1% year-over-year. There were 142 homes sold last month.

Pending home sales were down 8% year-over-year.

Inventory continues to be stagnant with only 364 homes on the market. Inventory has averaged 834 homes on the market since January 2003.

Sales Momentum…

for homes dropped 1.8 points to +8.8.

Pricing Momentum…

jumped 2.4 points to +11.4.

Condo Statistics…

The median price for condos was up 17.7% year-over-year. That’s eleven straight months the median price has been higher than the year before.

The average price was up 24.5%.

Sales were down 8.7% year-over-year.

Pending sales rose 5.1%.

Condo inventory was down 45.5% from last April. As of the 5th of the month, there were 104 condos for sale in the county.

Mortgage Rate Outlook

May 3, 2013 -- A cascade of fresh economic data came out this week, variously reflecting economic conditions in both March and April. A "big picture" look at the data might lead one to an "economy is still troubled" conclusion despite the current 2.5 percent run rate for Gross Domestic Product.

Mortgage and other interest rates had been on a flat to easing trend for much of the week as most of the data did little to dispel the notion that we remain in a rough patch, one even the Federal Reserve implicitly acknowledged at the close of its meeting on Wednesday.

There was plenty of downbeat news available this week to create additional cause for concern, but one or two shining reports took the gloom out of the market, at least for now. Mortgage rates are likely to rise somewhat next week as a result.

HSH.com's broad-market mortgage tracker -- our weekly Fixed-Rate Mortgage Indicator (FRMI) -- found that the overall average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages eased by four basis points (0.04%) to 3.61%, another new low for 2013 and close to "all-time" record lows set last year. The FRMI's 15-year companion dropped by three basis points (0.03%) to 2.86% for the week, another actual all-time low. FHA-backed 30-year FRMs followed along with a decline of two basis points (0.02%), falling to an average rate of 3.26% (record low by two basis points) and was accompanied by a three-hundredth of a percentage point slip in the overall average rate for 5/1 Hybrid ARMs, which trekked down to an average 2.57% - another new low water-mark for the most popular ARM.

As far as interest rates go, it took an accumulation of fair economic news over a period of months and some considerable market optimism about the economy's future to bump them up during the late winter and early spring. That trend did an about face over the last six weeks or so as the economic news turned decidedly darker. Is the employment report the start of a new spate of solid news, or simply a bright spot in an otherwise dim sky? One report doesn't change the overall trend, buy may be enough to allay concern about a deeper downturn forming.

For the moment, the brighter employment picture on Thursday and Friday was sufficient to cause a reversal in the decline in interest rates. The influential 10-year Treasury bounced upward by more than a tenth-percentage point on Friday, so it's to be expected that at least some of that will show in mortgage rates as we round into next week. Many popular mortgages have been easing to record (or near record lows) but will move away from them next week, when a 5 or 6 basis point rise in HSH's FRMI seems most likely.

Foreclosure statistics

In March, notices of default, the first step in the foreclosure process, in Santa Cruz County were up 5.6%  from February. Year-over-year, notices were down 60.8%.

Notices of sale, which set the date and time of an auction, and serve as the homeowner's final notice before sale, were down 55.3% year-over-year, and were down 13.2% from February.

After the filing of a Notice of Trustee Sale, there are only three possible outcomes. First, the sale can be cancelled for reasons that include a successful loan modification or short sale, a filing error, or a legal requirement to re-file the notice after extended postponements.

Alternatively, if the property is taken to sale, the bank will place the opening bid. If a third party, typically an investor, bids more than the bank's opening bid, the property will be sold to the third party; if not, it will go back to the bank and become part of that bank's REO inventory.

In March, cancellations were up 84.2% from February, and up 40% year-over-year.

Properties going back to the bank dropped 10% in March from February. Year-over-year, properties going back to the bank were down 59.1%.

The total number of properties that have had a notice of default filed decreased by 43.1% year-over-year. They were up 39.1% from the month before.

The total number of properties scheduled for sale were down 17.6% from February, and, were down 59.1% year-over-year.

The total number of homes owned by the banks was down 3.9% from February, and down 42.5% year-over-year. Banks now own approximately 267 properties in Santa Cruz County.

For further details and a city-by-city breakdown of foreclosure statistics, go to http://foreclosureradar.com.