A while ago I asked if employment was going to jump this spring… now median home prices appear to want to jump for joy at the sight of spring flowers and warmth from the Sun. DataQuick News reported Bay Area home prices jumped in March 2014 but on the basis of the lowest sales volume for any March since 2008. Lower volume can skew numbers as evidenced by the $120,000 median price jump in Marin County (16% increase) in March compared with February. Home prices don’t really increase 16% in one month, but when there are relatively few sales the median figure can jump around. The new median figure for the Bay Area does set a new benchmark as the highest number over the past year. Finally surpassing the previous high set in July of 2013. All nine counties also saw the median price exceed the six-month average so the trendline has been jumped. Whether we can say joyfully is yet to be seen. Unaffordable homes are not really anything to shout about unless you are on the sell side of the transaction. (See SF Bay Area Housing Trends page above for most recent summary)