Some reports from the northwestern US. "If you’re seeing more ‘FOR SALE’ signs around town, don’t panic, say local realtors: The housing market is working just fine. 'Right now our housing prices are relatively flat,' explained Jim Wilcox in The Dalles. 'There’s been quite a few price reductions on the market, because things were put at too high a price in the first place. I think the market just went beyond what most people were willing to pay.'"

"For instance, said Wilcox, according to the Regional MLS in Portland, the average list price, at present, for a home in The Dalles is $253,000. The average sale price, however, is about $181,000. 'When you have that, you’re going to get a slow-down in the market,' Wilcox said. 'Simple economics.'"

"'I’ve been here since 1992 and I’ve seen houses sit for a year, easy,' realtor Rena Hunley said. 'Now, if it doesn’t sell within a few days we ask, ‘What’s wrong?’ Nothing’s wrong! It’s just real estate, and that’s how it goes, up and down.'"

The Bend Weekly. "Bend may be booming, but like many parts of the country the housing market seems to have hit a soft spot. It is something Aaron Callahan discovered in recent weeks. They put their new 3,400 square-foot home on the market using Craigslist.org over two weeks ago and they have yet to have any interest."

"Callahan says his work situation has changed and he simply has to sell the house sooner rather than later. 'I am going to try to sell it on my own for the next month and if I can’t then I am going to bring a realtor in,' he said."

"Working in the mortgage business, he is no stranger to how the housing market works, but after unsuccessfully trying to also sell a condo in southern California for five months, he doesn’t have a lot of time or patience."

The Oregonian. "The Portland-area median home price (was) 2 percent lower than June's median. That month-to-month downtick, along with rising inventories locally and nationally, has economists saying the Portland area's housing market has seen its hottest days."

"'As brokers, we're having to work really hard to educate our sellers on pricing to get them right,' said veteran agent Kathy Hall."

"Debora Runnion-Jessup, an agent in Clackamas, said one buyer client wanted to offer $20,000 less than the asking price for a house on the market for $480,000. 'On a resale, that's a big gap,' she said. But the buyer wanted to negotiate."

"The seller countered at $467,000, more than halfway to the offer price of $460,000. Her buyer still insisted on countering that with $465,000. The back-and-forth forced her to try to come up with reasons to try to justify the price, she said. But sometimes buyers are making offers below recent comparable sales, which can be hard to justify to the seller."

"'I don't want to keep writing offers and insulting people,' she said."

The Columbian. "Fewer qualified buyers, new construction and overeager sellers combined in July to push the inventory of houses for sale in Clark County to a six-year high. There were nearly 4,000 houses for sale last month in Southwest Washington, which includes Clark County and a portion of Woodland."

"'We had a lot of investors buying homes and fixing them up to sell, so we've got all those on the market,' said Phil Frederickson, a Realtor in Vancouver. 'In addition, there's a lot of brand new houses sitting empty out there. Some of these new homes were bought by investors to rent, and then they decided to put them on the market.'"

"'This year, we've got builders coming on with new product that missed the market and we've got sellers reacting to last year's market,' said broker Scott Mikel in Vancouver. 'We also have fewer qualified buyers than we had last year. I don't believe (higher) interest rates have slowed the (local) market. I believe the saturation rate has slowed the market.'"

"Californians keep migrating north to Central Oregon, according to moving company figures. Nancy Lynch, an agent with United Van Lines, warned that migration patterns are cyclical. She said has seen many people returning south after a few years in Central Oregon."

"'We've had people calling us, saying: 'Remember us? We're so-and-so, and you helped us move up here four years ago. Well, you're helping us move back,' she said."