The Fresno Bee reports on the bursting housing bubble. "The number of existing homes sold in the Fresno/Clovis area fell in March to 692 from 824 the same month last year, a drop of 16%. More than 3,000 houses are for sale in the Fresno area, which gives buyers more choice. Real estate agents say they are having trouble persuading sellers to lower prices to better compete."

"'I see a lot of discounting,' said (realtor) Ron Thomas in Fresno. 'We are in a buyer's market.'"

"Jody and Debbie Rosen bought their 'perfect' house last May. Now, after being transferred to Atlanta, they are discovering that even perfection is difficult to sell. The Rosens beat out two other offers to buy the two-story house almost a year ago for $499,000."

"This time, things are different. The Rosens, who bought a house in Atlanta and are carrying two mortgages, lowered the asking price twice from $569,000 to $535,000, and their real estate agent wants them to shave off an additional $10,000. A sale at $525,000 would net a 5% gain, but fees and commissions would eat most, if not all, of it."

"'My big fear is that the prices will keep going down and we won't be able to sell it,' said Debbie Rosen, who said an offer at $525,000 would receive serious consideration."

"'The market hasn't found itself,' said Katrina Harman, the agent trying to sell the Rosens' house. 'It's frustrating for people. They want to catch appreciating value.'"

"The Rosens' house is competing with at least seven other houses under $529,950, Harman said. 'They need to price their house with the competition..Pricing too high and waiting for the market to reach one's price does not work in this real estate market,' she said."

"Houses are coming up for sale faster than they are being sold, values are not climbing at the same rate and sellers are facing the hard reality of having to cut prices to compete. A day picked at random, last Wednesday, revealed that 125 listings came onto the market, 64 sellers lowered their prices and 62 houses went into escrow. Prices aren't likely to climb much when the number of houses being listed for sale outpaces those being sold by 2-1."

"Thomas said the real estate market has simply returned to normal, which is good for buyers. 'We probably have never had a more friendly market for real estate than we now enjoy. We have a large inventory of new and resale houses, we have a mortgage infrastructure which is literally pouring money into the market with offers of 90% and 100% loans, 40- and 50-year loans, interest-only loans and more things every day,' he said."

"'There is no market in which everyone is going to be happy,' he added."