Yes, there are a few single family properties that have been on the market for a long time, in this area there are 55 single family listings in "active" mode, and 3 properties have been on the market exactly one year or longer.

Taking those out of the calculations, the average days on market (DOM) for this area is 104 days for the actives.

 
There are 12 in escrow--DOM of 67 excluding one of the sales that has been on the market for close to a year--and two sold in less than 14 days.

 Inventory as of January 6, 2009 showed 5.2 months of inventory supply (all property types) for Long Beach--compare that to 8.1 months of inventory supply for January, 2008.

For 90803 zip code (Belmont Heights, Naples, Belmont Shore, Bluff Park) in January 2009, the inventory supply is at 6.8 months.

Did you know that 6 months is considered the national turning point for a change to or from a buyer's or seller's market? That means less than 6 months inventory on the market (the amount of time it would take to sell all properties on the market at the current selling rate) is when the market flips over to favoring the seller.  That would be a pretty interesting phenomenon right now, all things considered.

If you'd like the market picture for your neighborhood or area of interest, I have that information also available by e-mail.
So if you're interested in this area, there are some great opportunities especially considering the interest rates which lowers your monthly payment, saving you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan. To see the difference, try downloading this free calculator at http://www.realdata.com/calculator/index.htm  and play with the interest rates and loan amounts.

Julia Huntsman e-PRO, Broker Associate, www.juliahuntsman.com