Home price increases in California are beginning to moderate, a sign that our state’s housing market is heading toward a more balanced condition.

The median price for a single-family home in the state was $457,160 in June, a 2 percent decline from the preceding month, according to the California Association of Realtors’ latest home sales and price report. Although prices rose 6.6 percent from June 2013, the rate of annual appreciation was the lowest in quite some time.

“Home prices are finally increasing at a healthier pace, and the smallest year-over-year price gain in more than two years suggests that prices are stabilizing,” CAR Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young said in a statement. “Last year’s frenzied market of multiple offers, which drove sales prices above listing prices, has tapered off as the sales-to-list price ratio has dropped to a more normal level at nearly 99 percent, which signals a return to a more balanced market.”