Sacramento area home prices fell by 1.4% last year. This year, research firm Clear Capital predicts prices will keep dropping. 

"We do expect prices in the Sacramento area to decline roughly around 3% in 2011."

Alex Villacorta is Clear Capital's lead statistician. He says that 3% decline is pretty modest and a sign that prices are holding relatively steady.

Local home prices hit their lowest levels in 2009 after the housing market crashed. Since then prices have risen by 7%.

"Looking forward to 2011, we're already seeing prices starting to stabilize in terms of their declines - certainly not going up, but the big double-digit declines that we see are really only reserved for a select few markets."

…markets such as: Tucson, Arizona; Dayton, Ohio; and New Haven, Connecticut.

Clear Capital predicts home prices statewide in California will fall by about 5% this year.