Put California's growth rate side by side with the country's overall rate, and the Golden State isn't just a little ahead - it's well ahead: 2.3 percent to 0.9 percent for the last three months … and 12.5 to 5.4 percent for the last year.

Villacorta: "So both on the short term and the long term, California is doing quite well."

Alex Villacorta is with the tracking firm Clear Capital.  He says the big drop in foreclosure properties and California's improved economy are combining to help the state's housing prices go up.  That means…

Villacorta: "…what a lot of buyers are facing is stiff competition - and that's a good thing, for buyers and sellers, for the market overall."

But Villacorta says the coming year will show whether the California housing market is in a sustained recovery or not - and that will be the real test.