Sales rose 19% from February to March according to the research firm DataQuick. That may sound like good news but DataQuick’s Andrew LePage says it was a weak start to the traditional home buying season.

"The bounce you normally see between sales in February and March is somewhere close to 40% and we saw closer to half that this year." 

And Lepage says a flood of foreclosed homes led to a sharp drop in home prices last month. The median home price in Sacramento County fell 27% over the past year. It was $247,000 in March…almost $100,000 below the same time last year.