by Calculated Risk on 5/18/2006 02:59:00 PM

DataQuick reports on the California Bay Area: Bay Area home sales and appreciation slow; new price peak

Bay Area home sales in April dropped to their lowest level in five years as prices slowly reached a new peak, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 8,358 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was down 14.2 percent from 9,745 for March, and down 25.1 percent from 11,158 for April last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Last month was the slowest April since 2001 when 7,193 homes were sold. April's year-over-year decline in sales was the steepest since November 2001 when sales dropped 27.2 percent to 6,644 from 9,122 one year earlier.

"These are strange times for forecasters and analysts. Are we heading into a market lull? Or are we seeing the beginning of a significant downturn? Many of the fundamentals for housing are at a crossroads: Inflation, interest rates, demand, household incomes, prices, and whether homes are a good investment compared to other investments. Summer is going to be interesting to say the least," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.
...
Indicators of market distress are still largely absent. ... Foreclosure rates are coming up from last year's low point, but are still below normal levels.

I agree, Summer will be "interesting to say the least"!