by Calculated Risk on 2/14/2008 05:38:00 PM

From Jim Wasserman and Phillip Reese at the SacBee: Sacramento region foreclosures nearly equal home sales in January (hat tip Jesse)

In the most ominous indicator yet of the Sacramento region's struggling housing market, January saw nearly as many people lose their homes as buy them.

January's 1,815 closed escrows in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Yolo and Yuba counties was only 33 more than the 1,782 foreclosures recorded in the same counties that month, according to statistics from La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems of La Jolla and Foreclosures.com. of Fair Oaks.
...
The foreclosures -- more than 10,000 last year in the eight-county capital region -- are fast pushing down home sales prices.
...
Sacramento County's median sales prices for all new and existing homes are down a record 26.8 percent from January 2007, the firm reported. The county's $253,000 median sales price is down now 34.6 percent from an August 2005 high of $387,000.

We have to be a little careful using median home prices, since the mix of homes matters. But clearly foreclosures are impacting prices in the Sacramento region.