The Daily Star has some housing bubble news for Tucson. "After a year of Tucsonans rushing to sell their homes to take advantage of soaring profits, it's now a buyers' market. More Tucson-area homes were on the market last month than at any time in the past nine years, new numbers show. There were 6,499 homes listed for sale on the Tucson Association of Realtors MLS in January, an 87.3 percent increase over January 2005. And the number is going up fast: January's figure represents an increase of 1,042 homes over December."

"Last year's housing frenzy, characterized by frustrated home buyers and some homes being snapped up within hours of being listed, is over, experts say. Buyers can now take a little time in looking for homes and feel comfortable sumbitting bids at, or even below, asking price."

"The jump in the number of homes listed even surprised Paul Olson, president of the MLS. 'We knew it was going to increase, but we had no idea it was going to double,' Olson said. 'Sellers are getting a little more anxious.' He called January's listings a 'historic high' dating back to January 1997."

"There's no clear explanation for the jump, Olson said. Last year's real estate boom lured hundreds of new agents into the market. Individual homeowners may be trying, only too late, to cash in on a heated market. The high inventory may be caused by investors dumping their inventory, said John Strobeck, a Tucson housing analyst. Investors appeared to start pulling out of Tucson's market in October, when Strobeck said he saw individuals and limited-liability companies were selling multiple homes at the same time."

"So far, the increased competition isn't pushing down prices. The median price of a home sold in January was $215,875, up 23 percent from January 2005. January's figure decreased 1.9 percent from December's median price of $220,000."

"Signs of a market slowdown go beyond the number of listings, said (broker) John Rock. New home builders are courting real estate agents and buyers alike with incentives. 'They're offering help in closing costs. One is offering $10,000 in upgrades,' Rock said."

"Some sellers, hoping to cash in, turn away from agent suggestions that they should lower the selling price. 'They don't want to hear what the Realtor is telling them,' Rock said. 'Tucson's always had a great real estate market. It just got thrown out of whack last year by real estate investors.'"

"And timing is everything, said Kristine Lowden, one of Rock's clients. She is selling her home near West Linda Vista Place and North Thornydale Road and has bought a home near North Shannon and West McGee roads. She listed her home for sale at $282,000 in October. It finally sold last week for $265,000. 'I got frustrated toward the end. I mean, I knew it would sell. I wasn't too concerned about that, but I was concerned about, 'Gee, how much am I going to have to come down on the price?' Lowden said."

"She wonders if she could have sold for more if she had listed the home only a few weeks earlier. 'I think I just missed the window of opportunity,' she said. The slowing market also worked in her favor when she bought her new home for $224,900, about $5,000 below asking price."