Home sales falter, hinting at slowdown

"Bay Area home sales tumbled to their lowest level in five years last month, and prices hovered well below record territory, further evidence that the region's seemingly unstoppable housing boom may have peaked with the blistering market of 2005.
What remains to be seen is whether the new figures amount to a hiccup or the beginning of prolonged slowdown.
'The various scenarios are that the market takes a deep, deep downturn to reach an equilibrium or comes in for a soft landing,' said DataQuick analyst John Karevoll, who noted that the first two months of the year are generally poor statistical gauges of the market's direction. "