A pair of reports provide an update on the housing bubble. "More than 3,200 metro Milwaukee homes sprouted "for sale" signs last month, over three times the number reported sold, a Friday industry report shows. That new inventory was 43% higher than January 2005 and 66% higher than January 2004, Metro MLS figures show. The Wauwatosa market-tracking firm reported 936 January sales, a 10.2% slide from 1,042 a year earlier."

"This massive influx of sellers 'could be people testing the market' for changed conditions, Metro MLS President Tammy Maddente said."

"'The next 30 days are going to tell us a lot. If the sales pace picks up, we'll be fine,' she said. If sales don't pick up, Maddente said, buyers will dictate terms this year, a financially painful switch for sellers."

"New listings mushroomed throughout its southeast Wisconsin reporting region. In the four-county metro area, 3,201 dwellings hit the market, compared to 2,241 a year earlier and 1,934 two years earlier. Waukesha and Ozaukee counties had the biggest surges - 47% and 58%, respectively. Milwaukee County wasn't far behind, with 44.5%, while Washington County had a 15.7% gain."

"South of metro Milwaukee, new listings were up 41% in Racine County, and 30.1% in Kenosha County. To the southwest, Walworth County's new listings rose 34.3%. Sheboygan County, north of Ozaukee, had a 38% gain."

"Sales were down everywhere except Sheboygan County. County year-over-year dips: Milwaukee, 9.8%; Waukesha, 5.1%; Ozaukee, 32.9%; Washington, 9.5%; Racine, 10.2%; Kenosha, 4.1%; and Walworth, 8.6%."

From the Baltimore Sun. "With each passing month, there is mounting evidence of a mild if uneven slowdown in the regional real estate market, with the number of homes on the market rising steadily as prices and sales slip further from their summer peaks. Prices in the region peaked in July, and January's average sales price of $291,337 was 6.4 percent below that level."

"About 2 1/2 times as many homes were listed for sale in the region last month as a year earlier, and sales ran 15 percent or more behind year-earlier levels in most areas. The number of homes listed in the Baltimore area more than doubled from January last year, jumping from 4,114 houses to more than 10,600."

"'When inventory goes up and the sales turnover goes down, that's an early indication of an adjustment in the market of some magnitude,' (economist) Brian A. Bethune said. 'The question after that is how much of a price adjustment is there going to be after the froth comes off.'"

"Sales in Carroll County fell more than 38 percent in January from the same month in 2005, and prices year over year were up 5.6 percent, significantly less than any other part of the region. Melvina Brown, an agent in Ellicott City and past president of the Howard County Association of Realtors, agrees that adjustments in pricing are inevitable. 'Because we have more inventory, prices are going to be more realistic than they were last year,' she said."