Do you want to know how it was 15 years ago with home sales? Look at the market right now.

This is what DataQuick found, thanks Calculated Risk. What’s strange about it is, however you look at it, 1992 was either the beginning or middle of the last slump. I won’t get into the obvious about what is different now, no earthquales, no Boeing leaving town, no riots, however we have a war that always buoys the economy.

However, paragraphs like these are interesting:

“”It looks like we’re pretty close to a ‘floor’ level of purchase activity right now. Market uncertainty has squeezed out most discretionary buying. Prices appear to be holding steady in expensive markets because potential sellers can wait the market out. That’s not the case in more affordable areas where we’re seeing price declines,” said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.”

I don’t know about you but words like “think” and “close to a floor level activity purchase are nice to hear but hard to quantify.

In Long Beach, higher end market have dropped somewhat but true, those sellers have more time to wait it out. I think the market that has really been affected are the $700,000 to 1,000,000. I’ve seen prices drop by $200,000 regularly.