Stockton, Tracy, Manteca and Modesto Go Negative

From the Stockton Record:

The resale-home market in San Joaquin County saw sales slip again, though sales prices continued to climb and the number of homes on the market rose even higher. Year-to-year prices in some areas, though, were in the red for the first time in at least several years because of the soft market.

Sales dropped from 581 in June to 439 last month countywide, but the median sales price moved up from $420,000 to $425,000 in the same period, according to the latest sales figures from Coldwell Banker Grupe-TrendGraphix monthly sales report, based on Multiple Listing Service data. Year-to-year, sales prices were up slightly, 2.4 percent, from $415,000 in July 2005. That's far different from the previous five years, when sales prices bounded between 25 percent and 40 percent annually. That's for the county overall.

In Stockton, Tracy and the Manteca/Lathrop/Ripon/Escalon region, the median sales prices fell from June to July leaving year-to-year sales prices down. In Stockton, for example, the July median sales price of $360,000 was a $10,000 drop from June. It was also down 2.4 percent from $369,000 in June 2005.

From the Modesto Bee:

Northern San Joaquin Valley home sales prices dropped again in July, continuing the downward trend that began in the winter. Stanislaus County homes sold for a median $371,500 in July, down $4,000 from June and off $20,500 from December's record high. Merced and San Joaquin county sales prices also declined, according to sales statistics Wednesday by DataQuick Information Systems. Merced fell to $362,000, and San Joaquin dropped to $438,500...

Some cities are faring better than others. Modesto isn't one of them. DataQuick statistics show sales prices have dropped below last July's levels in most parts of Modesto -- particularly in the northwest part of town where this July's median $359,000 price is nearly 11 percent below last year.

Finally, this woman in Lodi apparently thought that the 2005 Santa Claus housing market was still delivering $100,000 presents in 2006. Oops!

Her house has been on the market for only three weeks, but Lodi resident Trina Reese is skeptical as to whether it will actually sell. "Houses just aren't selling," she said. "Last year houses down the street were selling at $650,000 within a week or two, but now it's a buyer's market." She added, with the home's current price at $750,000, she probably won't be able to sell.

And then there is this:

But homes remaining longer on the market have yet to face a drop in prices, according the Lodi Association of Realtors, which lists the current average home price for Lodi at $387,793.

So true. According to the chart in the Stockton Record, Lodi price appreciation is at a whopping 0%.