Dataquick has new numbers for northern California. "Sales of Bay Area homes declined for the fourteenth month in a row in May as prices continued to slowly edge up. A total of 9,064 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was up 8.4 percent from 8,358 for April, and down 19.8 percent from 11,308 for May last year, according to DataQuick. Last month was the slowest May since 2001."

"'This is a market that is rebalancing itself after several boom years. What we're seeing is stable core demand, and a decline in speculative and discretionary buying. These trends should continue through the summer buying season. There is uncertainty about the market after that, tied to broader economic trends,' said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president."

"The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying was $3,091 in May. That was up from $3,048 in April, and up from $2,646 for May a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, mortgage payments are 22 percent higher than they were at the peak of the prior cycle sixteen years ago."

"Many prospective home buyers are being sidelined by the combined effect of high home prices, more expensive mortgages and stubborn sellers."

"'As interest rates have gone up homes have become less affordable, and we're at a point where people are not yet willing to cut asking prices, so there are fewer sales going on,' said Cynthia Kroll, an economist with the University of California."

"The once blazing hot Coastside housing market ain't what it used to be. Inventory is up. Sales are down. And recent data suggests that even housing prices might be taking a modest dip."

"'I find it interesting when what people think is going on isn't really going on,' said Mike Schelp, a broker associate in Half Moon Bay. 'Starting in January, inventory was already 45 to 50 percent higher than it was a year ago. People feel the market slowing down and they want to put it on Devil's Slide, but it's been happening for a long time.'"

"While the high inventory and longer sales cycle is bad news for sellers, it is giving buyers the opportunity to bid on places that would have been out of reach or a matter of hot competition in the last two years. Sales prices may be a bit more flexible, but are unlikely to crash, Realtors say."

"Broker Denise Aquila said that the Bay Area won't get the kind of price drops seen in areas like Sacramento that have a lot of land and new construction. 'The truth of the matter is, prices aren't going to go down to the point that people consider affordable,' said Aquila, a board member with the San Mateo County Association of Realtors. 'Here in the Bay Area, we are pretty insulated. It's just a function of where we live.'"

"This is not the year for sellers to push the market, said Steve Hyman, broker in Half Moon Bay. 'I've seen homes come down $50,000 to $75,000 because they were priced too high,' he said. 'Sellers need to listen to their agent carefully, drive around and look at the competition. It will probably be an eye-opening experience for them.'"