Median sales prices of existing homes are finally showing signs of stabilizing in Sacramento County and have risen for two straight months in Sutter and Yuba counties, researcher MDA DataQuick reported Thursday.

DataQuick's April sales statistics show sales prices in Sacramento County have largely stopped a free-fall that began in September 2005 and have steadied in the $160,000 range in four opening months of 2009.

The April median price in Sacramento County for existing homes -- now 90 percent of the sales -- was $160,000, according to DataQuick.

The median -- where half cost more and half less -- was $162,000 in January and February and $160,000 in March.

Meanwhile, median sales prices of existing homes in Yuba County bottomed out at $132,250 in February, climbed to $140,250 in March and to $147,500 in April.

In Sutter County, prices for existing homes bottomed at $145,000 in February, reached $155,000 in March and $165,000 in April.

Altogether 3,375 homes changed hands in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties in April, DataQuick reported. That was down slightly from 3,419 closed escrows in March. But it was the best April since 2006 and the 13th straight month that sales were higher than the same month a year earlier.

Sales fell from March in Amador, Placer, Sacramento, Yolo and Yuba counties, DataQuick reported. They rose from March in El Dorado, Nevada and Sutter counties.

The flattening and rising price trends in several counties may be rooted in a dwindled supply of heavily discounted bank-repossessed home, which now represent just 15 percent of the region's for-sale signs. In November, repossessed homes were 27 percent of listings, according to Sacramento researcher TrendGraphix. Banks have released fewer repossessed homes onto the market in recent months due to foreclosure moratoriums that began late last year.

Some analysts also speculate that median prices will rise as higher-end homes come into the market as bank-owned homes, blunting the sense of rising prices as a sign of bottom.

Highlights of DataQuick's April statistics for new and existing homes combined:

-- Sacramento County: 2,184 sales at a median price of $165,000, down 28.9 percent from April 2008.

-- Placer County: 478 sales at a median of $295,000, down 16.2 percent from the same time last year.

-- Yolo County: 213 sales with a median price of $242,000, down 21.6 percent from April 2008.

-- El Dorado County: 161 sales at a median price of $313,000, down 17.4 percent from the same time last year.

-- Yuba County: 107 sales with a median price of $156,500, down 21.6 percent from a year earlier.

-- Nevada County: 107 sales with a median price of $322,500, down 25 percent in the past year.

-- Sutter County: 105 sales with a median price of $170,000, down 23.3 percent from April 2008.

-- Amador County: 20 sales at a median price of $180,000, down 34.5 percent from April 2008.

New homes represented just 9.6 percent of closed escrows in the region in April, DataQuick reported. Four years ago, new home sales represented 24.5 percent of closed escrows.

Mortgage interest rates, meanwhile, are helping spur sales. The 30-year benchmark loan has stayed below 5 percent for 10 straight weeks, according to Thursday newest survey by federal mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

Call The Bee's Jim Wasserman, (916) 321-1102. Read his blog on real estate, Home Front, at www.sacbee.com/blogs.