November marked the 21st month of rising home prices in Orange and Los Angeles counties, with prices for single-family homes climbing 21.6 percent from the year before, according to S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index figures released Tuesday.
 
The L.A.-O.C. area also had the third-biggest year-over-year gain among the 20 metro areas included in the index.
Prices appeared to be leveling off, with November’s index value up 0.1 of a percent from October levels. But that’s typical for the month.

Three other key home-price trackers, all with numbers exclusively for Orange County, also reported double-digit price gains for November. CoreLogic reported a 21.2 percent increase, the California Association of Realtors had O.C. prices up 17 percent, and DataQuick Information Systems reported a 16.2 percent gain for the county.

Home prices also increased in all 20 metro areas and were up 13.7 percent in a 20-city composite, the numbers show. Las Vegas again led the nation in home price appreciation. Prices there were up 27.3 percent there in the 12 months ending in November. San Francisco’s appreciation was the second highest at 23.2 percent.

High prices, however, are deterring many would-be buyers. DataQuick figures showed sales of existing single-family homes in Orange County declining from August through December.

Keller Williams broker Bob Hunt of San Clemente said that after home prices rose $100,000 in a year, sales “hit a brick wall.”

“It’s what you might call buyer resistance,” Hunt said. “There was pent-up demand in early spring and early summer, and then it just stopped.”