"I've just lost $50,000 in four months."

Home builders in San Joaquin County are cutting prices, according to an article in Stockton's RecordNet. New home sales for the fourth quarter of 2005 were down almost 60% over 2004. New home prices are also in decline. A related article also mentions price cuts and incentives.

New-home sales in the fourth quarter of last year have sheared off so sharply from the year before in San Joaquin County that many home-builders have cut prices to try to lure buyers. Patrick Picotin found out that Friday morning, when he stopped by the Syncon Homes sales office in Mossdale Landing, just a few houses away from the house he bought from the builder several months ago for $485,000. He noted a price-reduced sign on a table top and asked how much his house was selling for now. About $50,000 less, he was told by a sales representative. "Well, I've just lost $50,000 in four months," he said later. He snapped his fingers as he said: "$50,000 just like that!"

A total of 453 new homes were sold in the county last quarter, down nearly 60 percent from 1,123 in the fourth quarter of 2004, according to the Gregory Group, a real estate information and consulting service in Folsom. The average new-home sales price for San Joaquin County stood at $548,181 last quarter, down from $553,715 in the third quarter.

"I do think there's a supply issue in San Joaquin County," said Greg Paquin, president of the Gregory Group. "There's not enough being built, but certain markets such as Patterson and Lathrop got too pricey, and sales slowed down." But he doesn't think builders are panicked. "I don't even think worried is the right term," he said. "I think they're concerned." He's already hearing anecdotally that the first quarter is looking stronger.