A pair of reports provide an update on the housing market in Washington. "Whatcom County housing prices took a strange turn in the first quarter of 2006, rising dramatically in several communities despite more homes being listed for sale and fewer being sold compared to last year."

"'I would expect housing prices to level off as the inventory stabilizes and that the number of days a home is on the market will increase,' (realtor) Lylene Johnson said. 'Buyers have more choices now, and can take more time to make an offer.'"

"Johnson said that the number of homes listed for sale on March 31 was more than double last year's March 31 totals in Bellingham, Lynden and Sudden Valley. Listings were also higher in Ferndale, Blaine and Birch Bay compared to a year ago."

"Real estate agent Chet Kenoyer agreed with Johnson's assessment, adding that he's seen quite a few out-of-the-area buyers who are interested in housing, especially new homes just coming on the market. 'Around 18 months ago, when inventory was very low, a seller could get away with just throwing a higher price on a house just to see what would happen,' Kenoyer said. 'Now there is a lot more inventory, and more competition, so a seller has to be realistic when it comes to setting a price.'"

And the Seattle Times found a housing bubble believer. "Seattleite Matt Rivett, 32-year-old aerospace engineer, ran the numbers on renting versus buying earlier this year after his first foray into house hunting. 'I decided I didn't like what I was looking at,' Rivett said. He found houses overpriced and balked at busting his budget to get a house he liked."

"But what really shut down his search was doing the math. Why buy, he reasoned, when steep house prices and rising interest rates make owning so much costlier than renting. Instead Rivett's happily committed to a rental duplex near Ballard that has 'a beautiful view, all the amenities, for about half of what a mortgage would have been in a neighborhood further out, in a house I wasn't particularly fond of,' he said."

"'The monthly mortgage payment on the median-priced home today is more than double the average monthly rent in the county,' apartment expert Mike Scott says. Renters are staying put, saying they're 'willing to pay $2,000 in rent, but not willing to pay $3,000 in mortgage for the same type of housing, same carpets, same finishes, same lifestyle,' said Carmen Esteban, a commercial-mortgage loan underwriter."

"'I think they're examining their lifestyle choices. Yes, there's the investment piece of it,' Esteban said, referring to homeownership, 'but it doesn't get you a cup of coffee in the morning.'"

"As for Rivett, he was 'very relieved after I made the decision not to buy. Now, I'm not house poor like I would have been after a home purchase. I'm not tied down and can afford to maintain my lifestyle. I'm willing to wait it out for a few years.' In the meantime, he's investing more than $1,000 a month, the difference between his rent and a mortgage payment, for an eventual down payment."