Slowest Sales Since 95' in the South Land

I have just read a somewhat daunting article in DQNews.com entitled, “Southland Home Sales Slowest Since 1995”. According to this article, southern California sales this July were lower than any other July since 1995. When compared to July of 2006, sales were 27.4 percent lower in July of this year. This article goes on to mention that median home values in Southland last month were around $505,000, 3.7% higher than in July 2006. Makes you wonder when prices will level off and attract the multitude of buyers who are waiting for home values to drop. When will sellers quit holding out and price their homes more realistically? Why is this slowdown in home sales not related to a slowdown in the economy in general as was the case the last time home sales slowed similarly in southern California? The economy is not receding and unemployment is not abnormally high, so how can home sales be slowing to this extent? It would be nice to find easy answers to these questions; however, I believe that for the time being we are all stuck in a sort of guessing/waiting game. I wonder how many analysts who are keeping an eye on real estate markets across the U.S. are not forgetting irrational factors that are playing at least a partial role in slowing home sales. After all, can you quantify the number of folks who bought at the height of the expanding market and paid much more than their house is worth only a few years later? How can you tell a homeowner that they will have to lose a significant amount of their investment if they want to sell now? No one wants to be the harbinger of bad news, however, it is hard to dispute the facts and times are tough for sellers. At least for now, home prices in woodland Hills and the rest of the San Fernando Valley are holding and even going up in some areas unlike the rest of the Southland. So let us look on the bright side, even if it takes some time to sell at the price you want, at least in Woodland Hills, things are still better than in a lot of other areas.