From San Diego: This sums it up: "'We are so spoiled that we need to be spanked"

And spanked we shall be.

It used to take a couple of weeks to sell a property in San Diego. These days, sellers had better be prepared to wait at least a few months, according to those in the industry

The number of properties listed on the county's Multiple Listing Service, a database used by buyers and sellers to list homes for sale, has risen dramatically in the last 18 months. In June 2004 there were slightly more than 6,000 properties on the market in San Diego County; today there are more than 15,000.

As more properties hit the market and investors begin to abandon the city's once bonanza-like real estate market, there has not been a subsequent rise in home sales

'We are so spoiled that we need to be spanked,' said Kismit Cyriacks-Vella, a realtor and real estate investor in downtown San Diego. Cyriacks-Vella is not just being flippant.

She said investors are due a good thrashing because the last few years have seen them earn rewards that are simply impossible to sustain.