The Mail Tribune reports from Oregon. "Prices are down, and Jackson County home sales grew in year-over-year figures for the first time since 2005. Countywide, April's median sales prices for existing homes declined 7.1 percent to $257,200, according to Southern Oregon MLS figures. For a three-month rolling quarter ending April 30, median prices declined 4.5 percent to $262,500."

"'I've been in this business for 20 years and for 19 years real estate only went up or flattened, then it went down,' said Stephanie Horton, broker in Jacksonville. 'It remains a buyers' market, but buyers are trickling out. For little more than a year, there weren't any buyers, and I had a lot of people tell me 'I'm waiting to see how low it goes.'"

"With the local market so closely tied to the ups and downs of California housing sales, Horton sees good implications for the Rogue Valley. 'California is picking up and we're usually four to six months behind,' she said."

"There are about 2,350 homes on the market right now, up 41 percent from a year ago. That reflects a larger housing stock and sellers who took their homes off the market during the winter coming back."

"'For the first time in years, sellers are willing to negotiate. I don't think it's unusual for buyers to take 10 to 15 percent off the asking price and still get counter-offers. If they don't get the counter, they'll just shoot off another offer down the road,' says Ron Galbreath of John L. Scott Real Estate in Medford."

The Bend Bulletin from Oregon. "There was employment growth in every sector of Des-chutes County's economy during the last three months of 2006, according to a federal report. Job growth is key to blunting effects from the softening local housing market for the next year, local bankers said."

"'I think we've had a run-up in housing prices the last few years, and a lot of that was driven by non-residents like speculators, and a lot of us would agree that the market got ahead of itself. So it's a real positive to see that job growth, which could take care of some of the inventory in the market right now,' said Robin Freeman, CEO of Prineville-based Community First Bank."

"Wells Fargo's Gary O'Connell agreed, noting that the FDIC report reflected some softness in the real estate market locally."

"In Deschutes County, single-family housing permit growth dropped 21.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006 compared with the same period in 2005, the report said, while multifamily housing permit growth dropped by 62.8 percent during that period."

The News Tribune from Washington. "Just in time for the spring buying season: several signs that the Pierce County housing market continues to slow."

"Pending sales in April were down 13.2 percent in Pierce County compared to the previous year, the biggest dip in the Puget Sound. The number of homes on the market shot up in April to 7,305, pushing inventory up 56 percent over the previous year, the region’s biggest increase."

"'The news is, pay attention, sellers, you’re not going to have the spring and summer you usually have,' said said Dick Beeson, a Windermere real estate broker and MLS director."

"Some of the county’s leap in inventory, Beeson said, can be attributed to the collection of new condos for sale. Pierce County saw a 114 percent increase in April’s condominium listings compared to the previous year."

"For months, agents around the South Sound have been counseling their sellers to price right before listing a house. Remax agent Larry Tuell said some are still going too high in a market with savvy buyers who now have more time to shop. 'You can’t get top dollar unless it’s in top-dollar shape,' he said."

The Herald from Washington. "Sales of single-family homes in Snohomish County continued to sag a little in April. For single-family homes alone, sales dropped nearly 18 percent in comparison to April 2006, according to statistics released by the Northwest MLS. Sales in the pipeline that didn't close last month dropped by a similar amount, 16.5 percent."

"For buyers, the good news is that listings increased by more than 51 percent, giving them many more choices than a year ago, when listings were falling. The number of condos on the market soared by 89 percent in comparison to a year ago, with 712 units available."

The Olympian from Washington. "For the second month in a row, a burst of condominium sales helped to soften a drop in overall Thurston County home sales in April, the Northwest MLS reported."

"Single-family home sales dropped more than 20 percent last month. The data includes sales of new and existing homes. The combined single-family home and condo sales data resulted in a 15 percent decline in home sales from a year ago."

"Total active listings were nearly 50 percent higher at 2,029 units, up from 1,358 last year."

"The pace of new South Sound loan applications has so far been strong this year, said Jeff Devlin, a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage consultant. Devlin said he doesn't sense the 'doom and gloom' today that hung over the real estate market a year ago."

"Condominium sales, meanwhile, remained strong in April, up significantly from last year. The sales increase had no apparent effect on median prices that dropped more than 16 percent from the same period last year."

"A higher inventory of lower cost condos has caused median prices to drop, but as construction starts on more expensive condo projects this summer, median prices are expected to rise, said real estate agent Tamera Strawn, a condo sales specialist."

The Seattle PI. "While home sales have slowed in King County and Western Washington, they're picking up in Seattle. The patterns of increasing year-over-year sales in the city and declining sales in the county and region also hold true through the first four months of 2007, according to a Monday report by The Northwest MLS."

"Home sales in April were down 4.2 percent in King County and 7.9 percent in all 19 Washington counties the MLS serves, compared with the same month last year. The declines are even larger excluding condominium sales."

"The contrast between increased sales in Seattle and decreases in the county and region is not yet a trend, 'but it's certainly worth watching,' said Glenn Crellin, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University."

"The city, county and region in April also continued a trend of increases in the number of homes on the market, with inventory up 52.9 percent in Seattle, 45.1 percent in King County and 39 percent in all 19 counties combined from April 2006."

"Buyers are thinking about the uncertain state of the market. 'That's why we're being selective in where we're looking,' said Eric Norman, who is viewing homes in Mount Baker, Beacon Hill and Columbia City. He said homes in the right neighborhoods should fare better in any downturn."

"Sahrah Marcantonio was pessimistic about the market, but didn't care. 'I think it's a bubble, we're at the peak of the bubble, and yet, I want a house now,' she said. 'It's for the long term.'"