However 1,367 homeowners in the region lost their houses in foreclosure, according to Fair Oaks-based Foreclosures.com, a Web site for real estate investors. According to Foreclosures.com there are 134 homes currently in the process of foreclosure in AmadorCounty alone. Analysts say the ratio could grow even worse as sales slow down in the fall and winter, while foreclosures continue rising. "You're seeing the numbers going up bigger, bigger, bigger every month," said Alexis McGee, president of Foreclosures.com. "I don't see them slowing down."

Things were even worse in the San Francisco Bay area and Southern California, where August sales fell to their lowest levels since 1992. Analysts say the number of homes on the market - now at a record 16,262 in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties - will continue to grow as sales prices decline. Median sales prices in Sacramento and Placer counties are nearly 20 percent off their 2005 highs, according to DataQuick. The median is the point at which half the houses cost more and half cost less.