Sacramento Market in a 'Funk' as Competition Becomes Brutal

The full story from the Sacramento Bee.

Forget about housing rebound
Sales, inventory and prices all point to a significant downturn in region's market.

As the market turns toward buyers and away from sellers, who have held the advantage for the past few years, April showed more price cutting and still more choices as another 1,028 homes put "For Sale" signs out front. It was the biggest jump in real estate listings since last August, when 1,200 houses flooded the market and signaled the impending end of the region's five-year housing boom.

"It's a supply-and-demand market, and right now we have a lot of supply," said real estate agent Dennis Colar of Cook Realty in Sacramento. "Buyers are looking at more things on the market and taking their time."

Tuesday, one of Colar's clients shaved $20,000 off his midtown Sacramento home, for sale since February. Another, Ron Rael of Novato, also cut the price on a house he's selling south of downtown Sacramento.

"The market is definitely in a funk right now," Rael said. He is selling to buy houses in San Antonio, he said...

Sacramento County's median sales price fell more than $5,000 in April to $353,750 after rising during the previous two months. April's price remained $18,250 below the county's August peak of $372,000.

Yolo County, which saw prices fall in March after two monthly gains, rebounded in April to post the region's only monthly gain in median sales prices. But April's median $420,000 price remains below its November high of $436,500.

El Dorado County saw the April median sales price fall slightly to $449,000 after posting monthly gains in February and March. The county's sales price remains $26,000 below its September peak of $475,000.

Placer County's median sales price fell to $472,500 in April after rising in February and March. Sales prices remain almost $30,000 below their August peak of $502,000.