House market in flux
Rapid shifts putting chill on hot June data
By Andrew LePage -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, July 24, 2005
If you've been waiting for the housing market to cool, then your moment may have arrived. While the latest sales statistics for June show more of the same - a strong market with rising prices - many agents and brokers say the lagging data don't reflect recent market trends. The number of homes for sale has risen to levels not seen since the late 1990s, they say, and buyer psychology is changing fast.
"We are in a shifting situation right now," said broker Pam Petterle, the manager for Prudential California Realty's Sacramento-Tahoe region. "The biggest change is that we have a much greater inventory ... and that's a major change because it shifts the balance from sellers driving this market to a more balanced market. There are not as many multiple offers, and listings are staying on the market longer."
At the end of June, the inventory of resale homes on the market in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties rose to 6,246. It was the highest for any June since 1999 and the most for any month since September 2001, according to TrendGraphix, a local data firm affiliated with Lyon Real Estate.
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