Commentary House prices were up significantly in all California metropolitan areas throughout the past year. The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) recently published its quarterly data for all of the median home prices for all of America’s metropolitan areas. It shows that all the California metro areas on its list saw home prices increase between 11 and 22 percent. Housing transaction prices in Silicon Valley (the San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara metropolitan area) were up the least among the major California regions tracked by the realtor group. Nevertheless, home prices there reached a median value of $1.5 million during the first quarter of 2021. The median transaction price in Silicon Valley was up 11.1 percent from the year-ago period. Silicon Valley is America’s most expensive housing market, according to NAR. The nearby San Francisco, Oakland, and Hayward metropolitan area is the country’s second most expensive housing market. Its median …