Inman News has this on Washington. "Home sales in western Washington fell 9.1 percent in March from a year ago. NWMLS members added 12,639 new listings to inventory last month, edging out the year-ago total of 11,808 new listings. The additions include 10,786 single-family homes and 1,853 condominiums. With those new listings, the total inventory at month-end rose to 23,533 listings. Compared to the same month a year ago, the inventory grew by 15.9 percent."

"'People are taking a bit longer to decide and even with the increase in inventory, there hasn't been a reduction on selling prices,' said NWMLS director Dick Beeson in Tacoma."

The MLS site doesn't provide prior monthly stats, but does show pending sales down 8 in King County and listings up 26% in Pierce County. Listings climbed 52% in Grays Harbor and 82% in Thurston.

Builders slowed down in the west. "Construction was down in all parts of the country, led by a 15.5 percent drop in the West. The Commerce Department report provided further evidence that the nation's five-year housing boom is quieting down."

And CNN had this report on realtors. "If the secret worries of real estate professionals are any indication, home prices could be heading for a swoon. Brad Inman recently gave real estate agents the opportunity to blog about market conditions, they almost uniformly described them as bad, and getting worse."

"'Normally, brokers and agents tend to sugarcoat the news; they don't want to affect consumer confidence,' says Inman. 'By letting them post anonymously, we gave them a way to really share their thoughts.' Most responded with tales of high inventories, slow sales and languishing prices."

"Here's a sampling of their comments: 'Portland, Oregon is mixed, more inventory, sitting longer. Sellers no longer king.' 'Some Realtors, Mortgage Brokers & some clients have been more testy than in months previous. Something is in the air.' Posted by S. Crowe."