The LA Times reports Californians are still looking for housing bubble gold. "Californians, unable to afford the already mightily appreciated residential property market here, are taking their investment dollars elsewhere. Small investors are heading for the plains of Texas, the coasts of the Carolinas and parts of Georgia and Idaho in search of tomorrow's realty geysers."

"Killeen-Ft. Hood, Texas. For $80,000 to $100,000 and nothing down, you can buy a three-bedroom house and rent it out for about $800 a month to one of the 8,000 transfers coming to the Army post, thanks to base closures elsewhere, says Realtor Ann Elizardo-Shreder. But before you don your camouflage fatigues, take note. Although 8,000 soldiers are being transferred in, 9,000 are being transferred out."

"But is it a good investment? Housing in Killeen is very inexpensive, and if you can hold on for the longer term, it eventually could become a bedroom community of Austin. Remember, Riverside County wasn't always considered a bedroom community of Anaheim."

The Kansas City Star reports on one market in middle America. "After years of record-breaking home building and surging sales and prices, the Kansas City-area real estate market is awash in homes for sale."

"Inventories for new and existing homes are at historic highs while demand is reverting to historic norms. The result is that homes are sitting on the market longer than they have in years, price appreciation is ebbing and stealthy incentives increasingly are becoming part of the negotiating process."

"On the supply side, there were a record 21,104 new and existing homes listed for sale in April, a 30 percent increase from a year earlier, according to the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors. That figure did not include homes being sold privately by owners. On the demand side, the Realtors reported 3,090 closed sales, down 13.5 percent from a year earlier. The average sale price for a new or existing home in April increased 2 percent, to $180,128, from a year earlier."

"Some industry experts have warned that sales competition would make it tough for people trying to sell larger, recently built homes near outlying subdivisions where similar larger houses continue to be built. That appears to be what is hampering the Kings in selling their home in Shawnee. 'There are so many new spec homes sitting out there, which I think is hurting resell,' Joey King said."

"Tim Underwood, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City, said builders had noticed the shift in the market. So far this year, permits for future construction are down 13 percent from last year, but inventories remain high. The local industry is coming off four consecutive years of building more than 10,000 houses annually."

"'The number of finished unoccupied homes is 35 percent higher than a year ago,' Underwood said."

"The local real estate market is adjusting to the new supply-and-demand equation. One early indicator is the appearance of stealthy incentives to attract buyers. Homebuilder Bruce Rieke, for example, is offering buyers a free two-year lease on a BMW 325. 'There’s more competition than before,' said Rieke."

"Some see that as a buying opportunity, if would-be buyers can sell the houses they already are in. 'Some of the consumers who haven’t bought the past four or five years will find better values, but their challenge is getting out of their existing houses,' (researcher) Dan Whitney said. 'Many have taken cash out of their houses by refinancing, and they don’t have as much room to negotiate a price.'"

"Real estate agent Teresa Booker detects a growing nervousness among some colleagues. 'Some agents feel they’ve already hit a summer slump,' Booker said. 'People are best served by talking to agents who are candid, honest and realistic about the condition of their property. Then they’ll get accurate and competitive pricing.'"

"Kathy Copeland, the president-elect of the local Realtors association, said how well the local housing market does this year may depend as much on psychology as supply, demand and mortgage rates. 'We need to be very positive,' Copeland said. 'If we believe it will slow down, then indeed it could. I’m telling agents it’s a very decent market.'"