The LA Times has this update from California. "Without question, the market has changed. Bidding wars are fewer and farther between. Word-of-mouth sales before a sign goes up are less frequent. And deals struck in the first minutes of open houses are all but history, agents say."

"For four long months, there has been a 'For Sale' sign in front of David and Jody Saltzman's Malibu home. 'I was hoping it would sell in 60 days,' David Saltzman said. When it didn't, the couple lowered the price by $100,000 in April. They took another $100,000 off in May. With the house eventually listed at $1,495,000, making it the least-expensive listing in the development for a house of its size, they finally entered escrow a week ago."

"The Saltzmans aren't alone in their prolonged struggle to sell. Houses throughout Southern California are staying on the market longer than they were a year ago."

"(Realtor) Tuba Ghannadi in Palos Verdes listed a 3,000-square-foot house in during the Christmas holidays for $1,948,000. But the house isn't moving. 'In February we lowered the price for the first time. Every month we've lowered the price some more,' she said. The asking price is now $1,748,000. Still, the house sits vacant."

"Such price reductions aren't limited to the $1-million-plus market. In San Jacinto in Riverside County, real estate agent Hugo Florez has seen the price of one of his listings drop every month too. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom house came on the market in April at $275,000. 'We dropped it to $265,000 in May, and $259,000 in June,' said Florez. 'It's not last year's market anymore.'"

"After 111 days on the market, Bruce Kurnik's clients cut the asking price from $1,489,000 to $1,399,000 for their five-bedroom, 4 1/2 -bathroom house in 3,699 square feet in Oak Park, an unincorporated community of Ventura County. 'We had two offers when it first hit the market, and the sellers didn't take it,' said the broker."

"Kurnik has a Van Nuys home that's been listed for 125 days and counting. 'The seller wants a certain price,' said Kurnik, who listed the three-bedroom, two-bath house for $589,900. 'We had a very interested buyer, and we were extremely close to putting it into escrow,' Kurnik said. 'But the seller said, 'We're coming into summer, let's hold out.'"

"Houses and condos can linger on the market for many reasons, and sellers, through no fault of their own, can be caught in a market shift. David Saltzman still doesn't know why their home sat for more than four months, but he's philosophical. 'We don't feel insulted, because there are several houses that have been on the market quite a bit longer than ours.'"