A housing report from the Idaho Statesman. "In the Treasure Valley, the (OFHEO) report proves the housing market remains strong despite a drop in sales since the second quarter ended June 30, said Dan Givens of a Boise-based real estate firm. Not everyone views the local market so positively. George Tallabas, a veteran real estate agent in Nampa, said second-quarter data is already too old to reflect the softening local market."

"Quoting statistics compiled by the Intermountain MLS, Tallabas said 1,247 new and existing homes were for sale Tuesday in the popular $250,000 to $350,000 price range, and they are sitting on the market an average 45 days."

"'That was unheard of a year ago,' Tallabas said. And what I'm hearing from (real estate) agents is that they're struggling, that their (sales) numbers are clearly down.'"

"Ted Martinez, a local representative to the National Homebuilders Association, predicted that housing sales will pick up again because area homes remain affordable compared with other markets. 'What the market is doing is going through a correction, which it really needed,' Martinez said. 'It's getting down to where it's reasonable.'"

From Planet Jackson Hole in Wyoming. "For (Broker) Ron Miller, and many like him, the Jackson Hole real estate market is a cash cow, a golden goose, with an unlimited future."

"'In Jackson, the market doesn't really go down,' said (realtor) Linda Walker. Broker Ryan Olsen agrees. 'We are immune to the up and down treads that plague many real estate markets,' he says. 'Our real estate market is essentially quite 'bullet proof!'"

"'I've always been amazed with this market,' David Viehman says. Viehman compiles an in-depth look at real estate trends in the Jackson Hole area. 'I've been in real estate for 25 years and I still think, 'This is crazy. Why would anybody pay these kinds of prices?' To make 'those' kinds of profit, would be the pat answer.'"

"'This is a real active market now,' Walker says. 'With low inventories, buyers are getting off the fence,' Viehman says. 'Maybe their spouses are elbowing them and saying 'we better get on this before it takes off.' That feeds an urgency.'"

"Available property may be at an all-time low but 'dirt pimps' are flocking to real estate courses like ravens to an elk kill. 'There are almost 700 realtors in Jackson Hole,' Walker says. 'That's a lot. A lot of real estate agents have a main job because they are not selling.' Miller wonders. "There's only about 40 of us who do any volume. The rest of them, I don't know how they're making a living.'"

"Indications are a growing number of high-end properties in Jackson Hole are no longer vacation or second homes, but purely financial investments that sit empty. It is a trend noticed by one agent, Ray Elser, when he sees a 'spec home' change hands 'three, four, and five times before construction is ever completed.'"

"Sure, property taxes soar with each reassessment but banks keep homeowners ahead by refinancing Jacksonites into their neo-wealth status. 'You don't have to sell a property to realize gain,' Miller says. 'You can get a new appraisal and borrow against the property and then go buy more properties. And when you borrow the money back, a lot of people don't realize when you go get an equity loan it is not a taxable event. So you're better off pulling a million dollars out of a property, tax-free, and buying more with that.'"

"'Real estate values will continue to increase,' Elser says. 'My crystal ball can only see so far," Viehman says, "it's a little foggy, but there doesn't seem to be anything that's going to change the course.'"