Oakland, Calif.; Orange County, Calif.; and Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc are leading the nation in recovery according to realtor.com’s quarterly ranking of top turnaround towns.

For Q2 2013, the median age of inventory dropped 14.4 percent over the past year, with typical homes selling in 83 days between April and June of this year. Median list price rose 5.4 percent year-over-year, to $196,000, in the second quarter of 2013. The number of homes available on the market dropped across the country by 10.3 percent year-over-year, with an average of 1.8 million homes on the market on any given day in the second quarter of 2013.

Detroit ranked seventh. Though plagued by the city’s recent bankruptcy filing, the market nonetheless posted strong improvement in the second quarter. Its median list prices on realtor.com^® are 37.8 percent higher for the quarter than they were a year ago, while inventories are down 26.5 percent. The market’s median age of inventory is just 45 days, down 25 percent from the second quarter in 2012.

“Detroit has made remarkable progress in the last year, shrinking its inventory of unsold homes by more than 26 percent and becoming one of the most balanced markets in the nation,” said Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Move. “We’ll be watching the inventory levels in the months ahead, but if this past quarter is any indication, Detroit won’t be giving up without a fight.”

Top Five Turnaround Towns

#1 – Oakland, Calif.: Oakland has been well on the path to recovery for more than a year. In the second quarter of 2013, listings in the Oakland market fell more than 34 percent from year-ago levels. Oakland led the nation in year-over-year list price increases in the second quarter of 2013 and houses in Oakland are staying listed on realtor.com^® for only 15 days, which is the youngest inventory in the nation. The median list house price in Oakland has risen from $339,000 a year ago to $479,000 in the second quarter of 2013.

#2 – Orange County, Calif.: With record numbers of foreclosures just four years ago, home prices inOrange County rose 29.4 percent above year-ago levels. In the second quarter of this year, Orange Countyhad the fastest declining inventory in the nation, with listings on realtor.com® down 36.6 percent. The median age of Orange County homes on realtor.com^® in the second quarter of 2013 was 51 days, far below the national median of 83 days and 43.3 percent lower than a year ago.

#3 – Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, Calif.: Santa Barbara’s strong prices catapulted it into third place on the list. In the second quarter of 2013, this market’s median price was up 34.3 percent over a year ago to $685,000. Though Santa Barbara inventories were still extraordinarily low – down 27.8 percent from the second quarter of 2012 – they have started to recover. The average time that Santa Barbaralistings spend on realtor.com^® (56 days) dropped 30.9 percent from the second quarter of 2012.

#4 – San Jose, Calif.: Inventories in San Jose dropped 35.4 percent compared to the second quarter of 2012, the second-largest drop in the nation. Year-over-year San Jose prices were up exactly 25 percent in the second quarter of 2013, another sign that the market is returning to normal after a combination of historically low inventories and strong demand powered prices in San Jose and several other Northern California cities to huge increases.

#5 – Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.: Seattle has worked its way into the top turnaround towns with consistently low inventories and a young age of listings. The median age of the market’s inventory on realtor.com^® in the second quarter was only 23 days, making it the second youngest in the nation. Homes listed for sale on realtor.com^® are down 29.9 percent since the second quarter of 2012. ThoughSeattle’s market prices are not rising as quickly as others on this list, it is seeing resurgence in seller confidence.