The California Association of Realtors (CAR) released its 2023 April report, and despite signs of improvement, the single-family home market continues to lose ground compared to 2022 activity.

In year-to-year comparisons with the state’s other regions, the Central Valley region saw the second smallest dip despite year-to-year sales remaining down 36.7% from last year.

Specifically, Fresno county saw a 32.3% drop from last year’s home sales for April, with Madera and Tulare counties declining 36.7% and 39.1%, respectively. Kings County, however, led the region in year-to-year sales, revealing only a 16.3% decline in home sales.

Despite negative year-to-year numbers in every California county (with Lassen County representing the lone single-digit decline of 4.8%), Realtors say the market is showing signs of competitiveness.

“While home sales declined in April, the market is getting more competitive as we’re seeing time on the market before selling down to 20 days in April from 33 days in January and the share of homes sold above asking price double from one in five at the beginning of the year to more than two in five in April,” said CAR President Jennifer Branchini.

Fresno County saw a slight increase in median home price in April, up 0.9% from the previous month, while still down 2.8% year-to-year. Fresno’s month-to-month numbers trail Kings County (up 1.7%) and Tulare County (up 3.8%). After a strong March, which saw a 10.3% increase, Madera County’s average home price increased by 0.7%.

Month-to-month the state saw a 3% increase in home prices.

Three counties in the Central Valley also saw an increase in year-to-year home prices compared to April 2022, with Kings and Madera counties improving by 0.3% and 0.5% respectively. Glenn County led the Central Valley region with a year-to-year home price increase of 24.1% – a year-to-year increase that led the state.

Other California counties seeing increases in year-to-year median prices include Amador (6.7%), Monterey (5.4%), Yuba (4.1%), San Luis Obispo (3.9%), Lassen (3.2%), El Dorado (1.5%), Madera (0.5%), Mariposa (0.5%), Butte (0.4%), Kings (0.3%) and Shasta (0.3%).

Despite the rising numbers in a handful of counties, overall, the state continued to see a decline in year-to-year home prices as well, dropping 7.8% from April 2022.

“While home prices in general are expected to improve in the second half of the year, the California median home price is projected to decrease 5.6 percent to $776,600 in 2023, down from the annual median price of $822,300 recorded in 2022,” the CAR report reads. “The updated projection on the statewide median price is an increase from the estimate of $758,600 forecast last October. CAR also projects the 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate to average 6.3 percent for the year.”