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But as we have become accustomed during this recession, the bit of long-term good news was accompanied by some short-term bad news.

Last Tuesday, the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index for 20 large cities revealed a decline in housing prices to their lowest level since the housing bubble broke.

For the eighth month in a row, prices dropped, this time by 0.8%, pushing them down 33.1% from their peak in July 2006.

But wait, there’s more. On May 28, the National Assn. of Realtors released data showing that the index of pending sales, that is, sales anticipated to be completed in the next 60 days, had dropped 11.6% instead of the 1% that had been expected.

All of this comes despite information that jobs are returning and that consumer confidence is on the rise.

So, what is an Orange County buyer or seller to do? Buyers, if you are trying to hit housing pricing at its absolute rock bottom, don’t. True, there may be a few bucks more in store for you if you wait, but the downside is that you could be wrong and your strategy will backfire. If a historical perspective will help, there haven’t been conditions this favorable in decades.

Sellers, put your house on the market now, because it will take weeks or months to sell. If it’s already on the market, don’t react to housing market news by dropping your price. Instead, try adding something of value to the sale; something that may cost less than the loss you’d take by dropping your price.

Buyers and sellers, remember that what you used to know about housing now longer applies.

STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Send story ideas to smi161@aol.com.