However, Bay Area realtors are convinced that a better year is ahead. Looking at the nine-county area, sales of single-family homes in Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara were close to flat from 2010 and about 50% of their 2004 peak, as DataQuick reported Wednesday.

THe median price for a single-family home in the area dropped below the $416,000 median recorded in 2010 to $390,000, the lowest since 2001.

The numbers published by DataQuick show that in San Mateo County December’s median price ($535,000) was down 11.6% from a month prior. However, this was the biggest decline reported in the area, with Santa Clara, Alameda and Contra Costa counties reporting a light 4% decline in median prices.

Some real estate agents say the downward trend is triggered by a rising number of foreclosures and short sales, that influenced the housing market last year, while low volume of sales was tied to difficulties prying mortgages out of banks and the reluctance of sellers to list their homes at current low prices.

“We’ll remember 2011 as much for what didn’t happen as for what did,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president. Except “at the very top of the market,” credit, negative equity and an uncertain economy kept people away, he said.

A healthy real estate market means stabile prices, even when homeowners face different challenges, such as tight credit, and low sales.

In a report released at the beginning of this week, the forecasting company predicts that prices will remain flat during 2012, which compared to the 4.7% drop in 2011 is a good news. On the other hand, Silicon Valley should see a 1.6% increase in home prices compared to the 2.5% drop recorded in 2011.

Clear Capital compared the forecast with the four years of housing market activity. The report highlights, that in three of the past four years, the nine-county area home prices have dropped from the previous year, including a dramatic 35% drop for the San Francisco metro area in 2008 and a 28% drop in Silicon Valley that year. Only in 2010 were there slight increases, followed by last year’s drop.

“We haven’t seen any stretches of normal activity for the last 20 years or so” in the Bay Area, he said, noting that prices had rocketed upward in the years before the decline. “It’s really been a roller coaster, with exception of now, when things are settling and leveling off.”

San Jose metro area

2011- down 2.5%

2012 forecast – up 1.6 %

San Francisco metro area

2011 – down 4.7%

2012 forecast – up 0.1%

source: Clear Capital.

The numbers calculated by DataQuick are shocking: the loss in home vale in five Bay Area counties from 2007 to 2011 was $387 billion, which is a 33% drop.

The hardest hit county was Contra Costa, while Alameda ranked second, followed by Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco

The DataQuick report cited by Contra Costa Times show that from 2007 to 2011, homes in Oakland lost an average of $350,000, Concord $289,000; San Jose $267,000 and San Francisco $205,000.

Now, with the new crediting standard, fewer buyers receive green light from banks for new mortgage loans. New home equity lines of credit originated by banks have dropped in Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties by nearly 90%, from $6.1 billion issued in the second quarter of 2007 to $674 million in the third quarter of this year, DataQuick’s recently published report highlights.The East Bay has seen a 37% decline in the number of specialty contractors since 2007; the Silicon Valley has seen a 28% drop.

DataQuick’s data show a double digit drop in luxury home sales or properties priced above $800,000 in Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

On the other hand, with the Congress dropping the limit on Fannie and Freddie loans from $729,750 to $625,500 acted as a drawback preventing some people to think about purchasing higher-priced properties.

The median sales price also dropped in eight of the nine counties, with Santa Clara making the exception, recording a significant increase of 3% reaching the $525,000 median price.

Contra Costa County’s median was $260,000, which is unchanged since last November. Alameda’s median dropped to $387,000 and so did San Mateo County’s median, where it dropped to $605,000.

“Sales of homes priced at $500,000 to $800,000 rose 5.8% compared with a year earlier in Santa Clara County,” DataQuick reported. Contra Costa County saw a slight gain in the sales of single-family homes priced at $300,000 to $500,000.

An industry study released this week shows 51.1% of Vallejo-Fairfield Metropolitan Statistical Area residential properties with a mortgage in negative equity. Although this is way above the national average, it is still lower than the 52.9% reported in the previous quarter.

One number remained unchanged though, the number of residential properties near negative equity. This was the same in the second quarter and the third quarter: 4.9%. This means about 56% of Solano County homeowners are underwater or nearly so, with less than 5% equity, the Mercury News informs.

“So many were short sold or foreclosed and therefore fell off the statistics, and a lot of new owners and investors bought at the new, lower price and may now have some equity,” Pal Winders, Solano Association of Realtors President said. ”It’s a good sign and means the market is adjusting.”

“Although slightly down, negative equity remains very high and renders many borrowers vulnerable when negative economic shocks occur, such as job loss or illness,” CoreLogic chief economist Mark Fleming said in a statement. ”The nearly $700 billion mortgage debt overhang has touched many corners of the market, and this overhang is holding back the recovery of the housing market and broader economy.”

DataQuick’s recent report shows that the median price for all houses and condos dropped to $350,000 from $365,000 in September. The price was the lowest in eight months and down nearly 9% from a year ago.

The number homes purchased last month dropped to 6,444 in the nine-county Bay Area. That was down almost 5% from September, but up 5% from a year ago.

Luxury home sales dropped in October, likely as a result of the reduction nationally to the maximum loan amounts for federally backed loans. In Sonoma County, the loan limit decreased Oct. 1 with $142,000 from $662,500 to $520,950.

“We’ve been watching the real estate market take itty bitty baby steps in the direction of normalcy, but that trend paused last month,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

Last month, 30% of Bay Area sales were for prices of $500,000 or more, compared to 37 a year earlier.

Homes selling for $500,000 or more last month dropped 20% a year ago, while the number of homes sold under $500,000 are up 9% for the same period.

Mortgages above $417,000, dropped 4% compared to a year ago from 34% to 30%. Before the credit crunch struck in August 2007, jumbos accounted for nearly 60% of the Bay Area purchase loan market.

Short sales accounted an estimated 20% of sales and foreclosure properties accounted for another 25%.