I just updated this week’s MLS trends for some of the markets we cover.

The charts seem to indicate that San Ramon and Dublin are seeing the most improvement or stability lately. The active listings in Dublin have fallen dramatically in the last few months and the pending sales have bumped up and are holding steady. In San Ramon, the increase in Spring inventory has not been too dramatic and pending sales are climbing sharply.

Looking at the chart, Walnut Creek seems to be the community with the numbers working against it – sharply increasing inventory and flat pending sales. Pleasanton, CA looks to be in about the same situation as Walnut Creek while Danville is in the middle of the pack.

If you’re thinking of buying new home construction in the TriValley area, here is a note of interest from the Associated Press:

For Lennar, the average sales price of homes delivered dropped to $278,000, down from $303,000 in the year-ago period, partly due to higher sales incentives offered to homebuyers. The company averaged $48,000 in incentives per home delivered in the first quarter, compared to $45,500 per home delivered in the first quarter of 2007.

As you may recall, at the end of last summer, homebuilders were trying to  reduce incentives as the market gave a slight hiccup of improvement. That attempt didn’t last long and after the end of a dismal year, the incentives have returned. New home buyers with a down payment and good credit remain in the driver’s seat with negotiating a good deal on a new home.

A real estate agent with experience in new home sales (like Tracey) can be invaluable for buyers looking at new construction. Talk to any former new home sales agent and they will confirm the value. They certainly won’t do this while they are working for a builder because the common misconception on the part of buyers is that cutting out the agent will save them even more money. The reality is totally the opposite with an experienced agent.

Move-up buyers also remain in positions of negotiating power as they did last fall and for the same reasons. The big change here is that sellers are becoming more realistic on pricing and inventory has shrunk so there aren’t as many choices. Interest rates remain historically favorable.

Don’t expect the prices to drop much more. Most agree, that our local housing markets (except for the foreclosure pockets) are stabilizing and that any further price reductions in the overall market may be negated by rising interst rates.

All-in-all it looks like it’s a great time to buy. The sellers have gone through their cycle of suffering. The group now in the batter’s box are real estate agents. The significant decline in transactions means there are not enough to feed all the hungry mouths.

The California Association of Realtors is expecting a significant drop in the number of practicing Realtors this year. Be sure to select an agent that you feel will survive the shakeout.