In preparing a story for next week, I talked to Scott Leonard, president of Guarantee Real Estate in Fresno. He sounded upbeat, considering the state of the real estate market, and this is why: his agents put 65% more houses into escrow in April than the same month in 2007.

"We had more pending sales in April than in any single month in all 2007," Leonard said.

He said would-be buyers are getting off the sidelines because they think prices have bottomed out. It remains to be seen if this is the beginning of a rebound or a dead cat bounce, but I would love to talk to anyone who is buying a house because prices have dropped.

Contact me at: snax@fresnobee.com