I agree with John's assessment for the coming year, at least as far as the Del Norte County Real Estate Market goes. Del Norte County has more than twice as many foreclosures listed this year than at this time last year and by all accounts, foreclosures have not reached their peak yet, at least in our market. The inventory for homes priced over $300,000 has a serious over-supply problem with no demand at this time. It is a strong buyers market right now and should continue that way for all of 2011.
John says,
"Those needing to sell should take all the necessary steps to insure that their home is priced competitively and that it rises above others in the local market."
Truer words were never spoken.
Recent news from the housing market has been less than optimistic, and nervous sellers as well as potential buyers both want to know what to expect from home prices in 2011. And the news for the first group isn’t good. Home prices in most areas will likely continue to fall throughout most of the coming year; and the reason for falling prices is as simple as supply and demand.
Most areas have far too many homes on the market for the number of potential buyers. And a backlog of foreclosures created by the recent scandal over “robo-signing” and improperly filed documents only aggravates the problem, allowing serious delinquencies to rise to more than 2 million. At some point virtually all of those homes will add to the housing inventory, pressuring prices further downward.
Today’s report from the S & P/Case-Shiller 20-City Index showed monthly home prices falling in all cities studied, the first time that has occurred in almost two years. Several cities recorded the lowest prices since the beginning of the recession. Despite record low mortgage rates, high unemployment, combined with tightened lending restrictions and consumer fears over further home price declines, has created the worst year for home sales in more than a decade. Fears of job loss as well as rising fuel and food prices caused December consumer confidence to fall significantly more than analysts had predicted.
Those needing to sell should take all the necessary steps to insure that their home is priced competitively and that it rises above others in the local market (see: What to do When Your Home Won’t Sell, Must Do Repairs Prior to Sale or other articles in the Sellers’ Corner of TheHousingGuru.com). Failure to do so will only bring disappointment and further loss; and waiting for rising prices could prove a costly gamble.
However, the news isn’t all bad; a few cities—those already experiencing jobs growth—will do quite well. Parts of Texas, California, North Carolina, Oklahoma and a few other states will see their populations grow and therefore, their housing markets flourish. And while that’s good news for a few, it cannot balance the negativity facing the overall market which will see only sluggish jobs growth and declining home prices for some time to come.
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No one sold more homes in Del Norte County in 2009, 2010 and 2011--*in units sold and volume--than Fran Gatti. Put Fran to work for you!
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*PER DNAOR-MLS
Yesterday was my local Board of REALTORs annual awards luncheon. 
Every first of the month Ronnie, our administrative assistant, arrives at the office and begins the daunting task of addressing letters to several hundred homeowners whose listing expired at the end of the previous month. One of the good people who came off the market on November 30th called me and we met just this evening to see how I could help them sell. The details of why homes do not sell are not unfamiliar to me; price is certainly a big reason, but there are often other fatal mistakes the prior agent made that punctuate the home's failure to sell. In this case, the home's MLS data indicated as the size of the yard as "0 acres." In other words, anyone who put the yard size in their search criteria would not find the house. Not good. 
