See also: New Report Says Your L.A. Dream Home … Is an Apartment.

Yes, it's 2006 all over again. Let's just hope this doesn't end in another Great Recession.

Southern California's home-buying market has gone bonkers. Flippers and wealthy investors are back, and purchasers are putting “near-record amounts” of cash down on real estate purchases, says the latest report from San Diego's DataQuick:

In July $5.39 billion was paid out-of-pocket on buyers' down payments or outright cash purchases, the firm stated today.

Home sales for the month of July in Southern California — Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties — hit an eight-year high, DataQuick said.

They were up 17.6 percent compared to June, and 23.5 percent compared to July of 2012. In L.A. that July to July increase is more like 28.8 percent, according to DataQuick.

The median price of a SoCal residential purchase last month, including condos, was $385,000, the firm says.

And, uh, most of us can't afford that.

John Walsh, DataQuick president:

July home sales came in very strong, and we think a lot of the increase in activity can be chalked up to a rising inventory of homes for sale. The jump in mortgage rates a couple of months back might have spurred more buying, too. The market continues its rebalancing act, with more and more people who've been 'underwater' now able to sell their homes at a profit, or at least break even.

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