The only thing slower than molasses in January, it seems, is Riverside County's home-sales market in January 2008.

Just 1,939 escrows closed last month, the lowest number since January 1997, when the county's population was roughly half as large as it is now, according to a real estate research company.

Prices continued to plummet, too, with the median sale price falling to $331,500, its lowest level since March 2004, according to the monthly report by DataQuick Information Systems.

Economists and many real estate agents interviewed in recent weeks have blamed tighter lending standards and a rising flood of foreclosed houses onto the local market. Agents have also blamed would-be buyers' expectations that prices will remain in free-fall for another few months.