Business News | Signs of an Economic Turnaround? | ABC30 Fresno

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By ABC30

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Fresno, California There are still plenty of 'for sale' signs in Fresno, but there aren't nearly as many as there were last year. George Mees, the President-Elect of the /*Fresno Association of Realtors*/, says sales are up about 50 percent, compared to last year. "At this time last year we had 513 homes under contract, right now we have about a thousand homes under contract," said Mees.

There are also fewer homes on the market. In April of 2008, there was an 8.2 month supply of homes. Now, there is a two month supply. Home prices are also bouncing. In February, the median sales price was $127,000. In March, it was $145,000. May's median was $140,000.

Sandy Brown, of /*Sandy Brown Financial Services*/, says he's also seen reasons to be cautiously optimistic that the economy is on the mend. "The average person is starting to loosen their grip in regards to all the financial decisions that they had been making in the past 8 to 10 months," said Brown.

Brown isn't ready to say the recession is over just yet. He says in many cases, it seems people are just tired of being pessimistic. Still, he says it appears the economy is taking steps in the right direction.