Amador County - Bank repossessions continue to drive the suffering housing market in the Sacramento region. According to researchers at MDA Dataquick, a market tracking company, purchases of cheap repossessed homes resulted in the most sales since January of 2006. 2,806 new and existing homes closed escrow in January in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties- a gain of 928 over the same time last year. Analysts say the steadily rising home sales are the result of drastically lower home prices in the region’s hardest hit areas for foreclosures. The deals have attracted large numbers of area and outside investors who account now for about one of every four sales in Sacramento County, according to DataQuick. Amador County reported 13 sales in January and saw median prices dip to $190,000. That is down 24.5 percent from the same month in 2008. Prices peaked at $425,000 in the county in 2006. Neighboring El Dorado County's 109 January sales showed a median price of $339,500. That is down 16.7 percent from the same time last year. The county's 2006 peak was $531,250. Sacramento County's 1,903 sales accounted for 68 percent of the region's total. The county's median price - where half cost more and half less - fell 34.8 percent from the same time last year. The new median is down by more than half from a 2005 high of $387,000. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.