The Daily Breeze has this update from California. "In June, 3,160 homes were on sale in the South Bay, up 180 percent from June 2005, when 1,127 homes were on the market." "Shorewood co-owners Arnold Goldstein and Larry Wolf said, 'there is no longer any doubt that buyers in the current market enjoy a good deal more leverage than they have had for the past several years, and that people who really want or need to sell in the short term may need to work with their real estate agent to rethink their pricing strategy.'"

"'It's certainly not the soft landing that we envisioned nine months ago,' said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist of the California Association of Realtors. 'As I look at the statistics of inventory and year-over-year price appreciation, I think it would be accurate to call it a return to normal.'"

"In the South Bay's four main beach cities, 183 homes were sold last month, down 18.7 percent compared with a year earlier, the Shorewood report says. These cities include El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach."

The LA Daily News. "After nearly two years of limited inventory and rising home prices, it's a buyer's market. Housing sales in June dropped substantially compared to a year ago. In fact, it was the slowest June in years, according to the Southland Regional Association of Realtors."

"The association's Santa Clarita Valley Division reported 253 homes sold in June, compared to 405 in the previous year and 400 in June 2004."

"The number of homes on the market nearly tripled in June, in time for the traditionally busy summer sales season. The median price of a resale home was $610,000, a drop from April's record high of $643,000."

The Orange County Register. "One of Orange County's most optimistic real estate prognosticators concedes that the local housing market is weathering tough times. 'Things are OK, but we have a lot of inventory of wishers and hopers,' (said) Gary Watts, a Mission Viejo broker and economist, referring to sellers he considers to be unrealistic."

"The number of home listings reached nearly 15,500 this past week, Watts said, almost triple the number for sale 1½ years ago. Sales have been below last year's levels for eight straight months."

"'I really think that we are pretty close to the bottom of our real estate prices,' Watts said. 'August ought to be the last month of weak appreciation numbers.'"