The East Bay watched from the sidelines last year as housing prices soared in the South Bay and Peninsula, propelled by Silicon Valley's unstoppable growth. This year its turn to rebound finally came.

"It was like somebody walked in and flicked on a light switch" in mid-March, said Jason Crouch of All East Bay Properties in Emeryville.

The gains have brought cities closer to their peak prices before the 2007 housing crash, restored positive equity to tens of thousands of homes that had been underwater for years, and given many homeowners a chance to refinance high-interest loans. But they also reflect a tight inventory of single-family homes for sale that have set off bidding wars and have forced homebuyers to trim their expectations.

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