By John N. Frank

I’ve just been in a fascinating meeting, speaking with 10 real estate pros in the Sacramento, Calif., area about what’s happening in their market.

Sacramento was mentioned in a recent Business Week story as the U.S. market that has seen the deepest home price cuts over the past 12 months.

The Sacramento real estate people I met say a lot of the pain in their area has been limited to certain ZIP codes while other locales continue to do well. But news about market woes has led to an interesting phenomenon – a scarcity of sellers in desirable parts of town.

One pro mentioned that he’s started sending out letters to home owners in neighborhoods where he has buyers waiting to buy. One mailing he did brought him nine inquiries from potential sellers wanting to know about market conditions.

There’s been a lot of talk about buyers sitting on the sidelines waiting for housing prices to bottom out. In Sacramento, buyers are putting their toes into the market waters again, these pros say, so it's sellers that real estate people need to be prospecting for.

Every market is unique, of course, but there may be a business tip here for your market.