The busiest time for home sales isn't so busy this year.

Home sales are at a 10-year low as a struggling economy, stricter standards for all types of mortgages and falling home prices give buyers many reasons to postpone a purchase.

There are too many homes on the market already, and the New York Times' most recent assessment says the "situation is likely to get worse because a rising tide of foreclosures is flooding the market with even more homes."

But there is a glimmer of hope from California, of all places. Could the state that led us into the mortgage crisis be poised to lead us out of it?

Maybe. While home sales were down 1% nationwide in April, they were up 2.5% in California -- the first increase in 30 months.

There have been more foreclosures in California than any other state, and that's a big reason home prices have fallen so precipitously there.

Banks are so anxious to sell the homes they've repossessed that they're offering discounts of up to 40%, according to economist Celia Chen of Moody's Economy.com.

"Lower prices will certainly entice buyers back into the market, especially in a state like California where the median home price is so high it's made it very difficult for people to afford a home," Chen recently told Bloomberg News.

If foreclosures are turning around California's real estate market -- and it will take a few more months of rising sales to confirm the trend -- then we should see the same in other states by the end of the year.

In the meantime, take advantage of our advice on what to do with a hard-to-sell home.