As reported by the San Jose Mercury News, Leslie Appleton-Young, Chief Econmist for the California Association of Realtors last week reaffirmed the Bay Area as “a relatively stable, strong market, compared to almost every other part of California, though it too has pockets where falling values and rising foreclosures are creating a downward spiral.”

Median home values for the state as a whole will decline this year, but Appleton-Young observated that the bottom of the cycle could come sooner than many anticipate saying, “The reason we’re closer to the end is that prices are falling faster than anyone expected in many California markets”.  She cited recent aggressive moves by the Federal Reserve to cut short-term interest rates as the primary factor hastening the ride to the bottom – and eventual recovery.