Unsold single-family homes rise to 23-year high in April – MarketWatch

The MarketWatch article linked above shows that nationally unsold home inventories are still rising. This is the opposite of the news I wrote on for the Sacramento market, where unsold inventory has fallen by about 25% over the last year. Sacramento is one of the places where prices have fallen enough to really bring out the buyers. News from California show some other markets in the state showing signs of increased buying, decreased inventory. As one of the worst, and hardest hit, bubble areas, is California starting to lead the nation out of the real estate downturn?

One of my favorite pastimes these days is to read the comments on articles like the one above. I assume those who so gleefully cheer for further housing woes will never be able to afford to own a home at any price. As far as mortgages go, it appears there are still plenty of buyers who can qualify for low down payment mortgages, as long as they stay out of the jumbo arena. How much longer can the housing-bust-dot-com blogs hang on?