Sacramento Area Home Sales Fail To Rebound

The Sacramento Bee reports:

In the most explicit sign yet of the continuing down cycle gripping home sales in the Sacramento area, median prices fell again in April in El Dorado, Placer and Sacramento counties, while home sales remained flat or fell behind those in March, according to information released Wednesday by DataQuick Information Systems, a La Jolla-based real estate researcher.

Only the median price of existing homes in Yolo County showed an increase, and even there sales declined.

In six of the past 10 years, April had more sales than March.

Among trends reported by La Jolla-based researcher DataQuick Information Systems:

April's sales of 2,212 homes in the four-county area were the lowest for that month since 1998.

A 36.7 percent year-over-year decline in home sales for the month was the biggest drop since April 1991.

A 1.9 percent gain in Sacramento County median home values from April 2005 to April 2006 was the lowest since October 1997.

We'll bet higher mortgage rates aren't going to help those trying to sell their houses.