Here in California, I keep seeing / hearing that it is turning around, but the Bank's shadow inventory is looming. Control of the RE market by the banks is obvious here. Entry level are on the rise while mid-upper level are still coming down.

Am not familiar with court house steps auctions, but as an "end user" it seems asking price is used by the Banks like a lowest bid acceptable thing. REO's start way lower than comps, then climb quickly. Keep hearing about 20-30 offers on places. Have followed many homes in SoCal SFV on Redfin and the statistics shown on Redfin are flattening or have a slight up turn, depending on the area.

Know of at least one "entry level" house that listed for $219k, and ended up selling for $290k. There are several forums on Redfin with opinions ranging from this being a "dead cat bounce" to Cali idiots doing it again like a few years ago.