The Arizona Republic looks at the numbers that came out yesterday. "Home buyers and sellers and real estate agents all can find something to like about the latest numbers from the ASU. Yet, the figures also show the conflicting forces roiling a market still struggling to regain the equilibrium it lost in last year's selling frenzy."

"Jay Butler believes that the higher prices are caused by more people buying move-up homes. He said that is typical in a slowing housing market. 'Everybody is sort of in transition,' he said. 'Some people say this is just a hiccup. Some are arguing a disaster scenario. But I don't think we are going to have a disaster scenario. If we do, it won't come from the housing industry itself. It will come from outside the industry.'"

"Many people close to the housing market say it has begun to slow from what some analysts said was an unsustainable pace. A big reason, according to real estate agents: Investors are taking their profits and moving to other cities. Listings are up, as is the time it takes to sell a house as buyers no longer are forced to jump at the first deal they see or get into bidding wars."

"'We're getting a few more buyers coming out and looking around, but the inventory is going through the roof,' said (broker) Floyd Scott. 'Investors are rotating out, going to Dallas and Austin. They bought the resale market last year, took the inventory right out of the market and everyone raised prices. We're still trying to find our legs on whether these prices will hold up or there will be a small decline this year. It might soften a little bit because of the price increase last year.'"

"Julie Bieganski, a real estate agent and investor, said, 'Things are still selling but the price has to be right. You can't overprice now. There are too many houses.'"

"Ahwatukee Foothills had its second decline in recent months, with prices falling $43,800, or 11 percent, since December's $386,250. Butler cautioned that it is too early in the year to say if these numbers reflect trends or if they will continue."

"Ahwatukee Foothills and Tempe are such small markets, with about 120 sales in each last month, their numbers may not reflect what is really going on, he said. 'Tempe only had 120 sales. I suspect a lot of that is higher-end housing areas like Oasis,' Butler said."

"'Both Tempe and Mesa are popular because they are well located and have reasonably priced housing,' he said. A separate report from the MLS shows that the number of home sales rising to 2,360 from 2,061 in January. That is lower than the 3,019 sales in February 2005, when the housing market was hot."

"But the number of single-family homes on the market jumped about another 1,000 in the month to 12,578."

"The new-home market is feeling the effects of longer selling times and pickier buyers on the resale side. Some builders say that some of their inventory of speculative homes comes from contracts canceled by buyers who couldn't sell their resale home. That has led builders to offer incentives to unload these properties, creating short-term buying opportunity for bargain hunters."

"But Butler also said that he thinks builders are starting construction on houses that don't have sales contracts just to keep the action moving in subdivisions."

"Larry Seay, CFO of Scottsdale-based Meritage Homes, said buyers have gotten accustomed to a red-hot resale market. They think they can wait until the last minute to sell their current home, expecting the rush of buyers typical in last year's market. Then the house doesn't sell before the time to close on the new house. That can be costly in terms of lost earnest money."

"'We're definitely counseling people that as soon as they sign a sales contract with us, sell their current home so they don't get squeezed,' Seay said."