Andrew LePage, an analyst with the research firm, crunched the numbers.

"In Sacramento County, total sales were down about 14% month-to-month. But year-over-year, comparing this April with April 2010, sales were up but only barely, less than 1%."

LePage says most of the homes that sold last month were sharply discounted. 

"Close to two-thirds of all the homes reselling in Sacramento County in April were distressed properties: either a short-sale, where the sale-price fell short of what was owed on the property; or a foreclosed property that a lender or someone else was reselling."  

The median home price in April was $160,000, up slightly from the previous month but down 7% from a year ago. It was the ninth-straight-month of year-over-year price declines.

LePage says slow job growth and tight credit conditions are keeping the median from appreciating over the previous year's prices.