Many real estate professionals expect prices in coming months to be flat or down compared with the first three months of this year. And the number of homes for sale will likely keep heading up as summer approaches. In general, the more expensive the home, the slower it's selling this spring. At the end of March, there were 1,021 for sale, a 360 percent increase over the same time last year. And 327 units went into purchase contracts last month, a drop of 34 percent from March 2000.
Some sellers say they understand buyers' caution.
Chuck Kondrath, owner of a microwave communications business, has had his four-bedroom home in San Jose's Almaden Country Club listed for a month. One potential buyer backed out following the recent flood of bad stock market news.