It seems like California can't get a break in ongoing reports by national agencies about the real estate market.

HousingPredictor.com's list of the 25 worst housing markets in 2008 is dominated by California, who has 8 cities in the list.

Of the remaining 17 cities, 4 are from other western states like Arizona and Oregon.

Our agents in some western cities don't necessarily echo these dire reports about the overall market.

In Portland, Oregon, Diana Allmer reports that closed sales for March 2008 were up 22.2 percent and pending sales were up 5.5 percent over February 2008.

There's also some reassuring news out of Arizona, where Bob Stahl in Phoenix says sales volume was up 18 percent in March over February.

And Brian Kinkade in Denver, Colorado, says the really good news for his area is that buyers and investors have many properties and homes to choose from.

So even though the Western market is struggling overall, there are some small indications of a turnaround.

Published: April 24, 2008

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