Here are the statistics that will give you an idea of how the market is doing in your area.

The stats are the percentages of the houses that are in escrow compared to the total number of houses in the market per area.

Here are the numbers for the week ending 9/27/08.
The following is considered the rule of thumb:

Buyers market if: Less than 25% of the houses in inventory are in Escrow

Sellers market if: 25% or more of the houses in inventory are in Escrow

Class 1= Single Family Homes Only as of 9/27/08:

Zone                                                    % of listings in escrow        Active # of Listings

1              South County                                       24.3%                                   698

2              Santa Teresa                                      31.8%                                    116

3              Evergreen                                            29.6%                                    411

4             East Valley                                            29.9%                                    718

5              North Valley                                         35.1%                                     264

6              Milpitas                                                 34.0%                                     128

8              Santa Clara                                           25.5%                                    210

9              Downtown                                             29.9%                                    295

10            Willow Glen                                           16.9%                                     260

11            South San Jose                                   33.5%                                     381

12            Blossom                                                35.5%                                     238

13            Almaden                                                20.4%                                     109

14            Cambrian                                               37.9%                                     162

15            Campbell                                               23.8%                                     183

16            Los Gatos                                              12.6%                                     181

17            Saratoga                                                   14.5%                                      130

18            Cupertino                                               27.7%                                      112

19            Sunnyvale                                               35.3%                                     130

Overall Change from 6/28/08 to 9/27/08

Active:

Down 8.7%

Pending:

Up 18.6%