"It's Not Unraveling" (Prices Decline 5.2% Since August Peak)

The Sacramento Bee published an update to yesterday's article. Looks like more of the same trends.



An Executive Summary:

1. Sales continue to "sink."
2. Inventory is up again, as mentioned earlier.
3. Sacramento County's trend of declining prices continues.
4. Year over year price appreciation has slowed "dramatically."

From the Sacbee:

In another sign of a cooling market, existing homes sales in the capital region declined last month to the lowest level in six years. Sales in January fell a combined 29 percent in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties compared with the same month a year ago, the research firm DataQuick Information Systems reported Friday. It was the slowest month since January 2000.At the same time, the median sales price - the point where half of the homes sold for more and half for less - dropped for the fifth straight month in Sacramento County to $352,500, a 5.2 percent decline from an August peak of $372,000. That's still 10 percent higher than a year earlier.

The experts describe the market:
-returning to more even-keel environment
-"downshifting to a normal...time." *
-"It's not unraveling."*
-soft landing; softness

*Sean "Souffle" Snaith. Wouldn't 5 months of median price declines suggest that the car is shifting into reverse rather than downshifting?