According to DataQuick, California home sales were up 28.2 percent in February but down 12.8 percent from March 2013. While many are predicting a recovery in California, last month’s sales were the lowest for a March since 2008, when 24,565 homes sold—a record low for the month of March. Last month's sales were 23.9 percent below the average of 43,251 sales for all months of March since 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin.

Despite a low inventory, single-family home sales are up 2.6 percent overall this year in Connecticut, with a 2.8 percent increase in February of this year from last year, according to the Warren Group. "We see many signs of a healthy real estate market in Connecticut," said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO. "We are in the third year of recovery from the crash in real estate and financial markets. People are interested in real estate once again."

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) delivered some good news Monday in that 59 of the 350 metro markets have returned to or exceeded their last normal levels of economic and housing activity. In the NAHB/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI), the national average is running at 88 percent, with 11 metros gained year-over-year.

Black Knight Financial Service’s Mortgage Monitor Report shows the effective loan modification efforts have shown far fewer defaults, which helps those underwater already in homes. However, those looking to get a home that have had some trouble in the past may hit a brick wall as only 30 percent of loans last year went to borrowers with credit scores below 720, which isn’t even close to the subprime score of 620.