Home sales, prices continue to fall - Sacramento Business Journal:

Home sales, prices continue to fall
Sacramento Business Journal - 4:33 PM PST Wednesday
by Michael Shaw
Staff writer

Home sales in the Sacramento area continued to fall in October according to a report from real estate tracking company Trendgraphix, which monitors the resale housing market.

In Sacramento, El Dorado, Yolo and Placer counties, sales of pre-owned homes fell from a total of 1,705 in September to 1,549 in October, a drop of about 9.1 percent. The median sales price also continued on a downward slide in each county, most dramatically in Yolo County, where it fell from $450,000 in September to $416,000 in October.

But the inventory of unsold homes also continued to drop significantly for all four counties from its peak in July, perhaps as sellers remove homes from the market during the winter. There are about 1,600 fewer homes on the market than during the summer. Industry experts say a continued falling inventory would eventually boost sales.

"Many sellers still have poor market intelligence and believe their home is worth more than the current market can bear," said Michael Lyon, president of Trendgraphix, said in news release accompanying the sales data. "Others are unable to sell for less because they are over-encumbered with loans."

Lyon suggested new home builders might be snaring buyers because of deep discounts and incentives owners of existing homes aren't offering.