Los Angeles metro area home prices predicted to keep rising

Home prices in the Los Angeles area are set to rise moderately over the next year, real estate website Zillow.com predicts.

A report released by the website Tuesday found that home prices have risen 2.7% over the last year in the Los Angeles metro area -- which consists of Los Angeles and Orange counties -- to hit $397,000 by the end of the third quarter.

The website called a bottom for the Los Angeles area in the first quarter of 2012 and expects home prices to increase 3.5% throughout the region over the next year, according to its report.

Nationally , the website saw home prices rise 1.3% from the second quarter to the third quarter, the largest quarterly gain since March 2006, and the year-over-year change saw prices rise 3.2%.

The median price nationally was $153,800. The website predicts home prices to rise 1.7% over the next year across the U.S.

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