The Seattle PI reports from Washington. "Seattle-area house values continued their record-setting slide in March. Values in the area in March were down 4.4 percent from March 2007, according to the Standard & Poor's S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, whose Seattle numbers go back to January 1990. It was the third consecutive annual decrease for the area and the second straight record decline for the Seattle index, which goes back to the start of 1990."

"Prices have declined month to month for eight straight months now. King County's median house price was $448,500 in April, down 3.5 percent from April 2007 and 6.8 percent from the record high of $477,345 in August, according to the Northwest MLS."

The New York Times on Washington. "Sales and prices are still robust in Seattle and affluent suburbs like Bellevue because they are more desirable and closer to big employers."

"'We are still getting multiple offers on properties there,' Phil Rodocker, a Seattle-based real estate agent, said about the downtown area and Bellevue. But 'as you move south, every 10 miles south you go, you see more and more short sales and repossessed houses.'"

"Builders are having trouble selling units in some newer condominium buildings. Mr. Rodocker got an e-mail message from one developer last week who a few months ago had quickly sold 251 units in a project under construction. Now, investors who had signed contracts to buy 40 of those units had reneged."

"The units in the Belltown section of Seattle are now being resold for as little as $225,950 for a one-bedroom apartment with one bathroom, prices that Mr. Rodocker said were so low as to be 'ridiculous.' Last fall, one-bedroom condos in the neighborhood were selling for $260,000 to $290,000, he said."

"About 35 miles south, outside Tacoma, Irené Foster-Worthy and her husband have received no offers on their three-bedroom, two-bath ranch home since they put it on the market a month ago."

"'Only about four people have come to see it, which makes it difficult to sell,' she said."

"One of Mr. Rodocker's clients, Dennis Humphrey, lives south of Seattle in Tukwila and has been looking to buy a home with three or four bedrooms and one or two bathrooms. Parents of 10-year-old twin boys, Mr. Humphrey and his wife live in a rental home and want a bigger place."

"Mr. Humphrey has made offers on two homes, but the sellers have refused to negotiate. He is willing to spend up to $300,000 and has enough money to put 20 percent down, but Mr. Humphrey said he was worried prices were going to fall farther and could wipe out any money he puts into a home."

"'I am not afraid of the monthly mortgage payment, and I am not afraid of taxes, but I am afraid of losing the value I am putting in,' he said. 'I believe the right deal will come along, and I am in no rush,' He added."

The Daily Interlake from Montana. "Montana Department of Revenue were in Kalispell on Monday, gathering information on real estate market trends for a statewide property reappraisal."

"Department Director Dan Bucks and several staffers heard from about two dozen local bankers, appraisers and Realtors as part of an unusual effort to bring the state's property valuations in line with volatile market trends."

"Bucks said the effort is aimed at determining whether national housing market turmoil is affecting Montana when the state is nearing the end of a six-year reappraisal cycle."

"'The Department of Revenue has never done this before,' Bucks said, explaining a five-point plan for producing reappraisals that accurately reflect current market conditions."

"The Flathead Valley real estate experts at Monday's meeting confirmed that local market conditions have indeed been dynamic in recent months. The group came to a consensus that the market has been in a decline, particularly for high-end housing properties."

"Realtors reported instances of homes selling for prices below their original listing prices. One Realtor cited the example of a house selling for $265,000 in 2007. But this year, two houses with the same floor plans, in the same subdivision, sold for $250,000 and $251,000."

"Veteran appraiser Jim Kelley reported that the Flathead Valley's residential sales volume is down 27 percent this year compared to the first five months of last year."

"'The basic message is we're seeing a decline in the real estate market,' said Rep. Jon Sonju, who sits on the Legislature's interim revenue committee."

The Vancouver Sun from Canada. "For decades, generations even, rural Saskatchewan has been emptying out. Most towns had scads of homes for sale with very few buyers. Bargain basement prices prevailed."

"The past couple years what many thought impossible has happened. In a lot of small and large towns, you can hardly find a house to buy and if you do, the price has increased dramatically. Older houses that no one wanted a few years ago are being gobbled up and renovated. Even houses in old farmyards are in demand."

"I'm most familiar with communities on the western side of the province, but colleague Lorne McClinton says the same thing is happening in his region in south eastern Saskatchewan. He says two years ago, his community of Yellow Grass was slowly dying."

"One year ago, McClinton says you could buy a 50-foot lot for $50 and a 100-foot lot for $100. No one wanted them. Now the town has bumped the price to $5,000 for a 50-foot lot and $10,000 for a 100-foot lot. Most have sold and the town office gets several calls a day."

"Two or three years ago, for a two-bedroom home with single-car garage built in the mid-70s, you would be lucky to get $40,000, says McClinton. Now, he estimates it's worth at least $125,000."

"'It is quite different to feel a sense of real optimism and growth,' says McClinton. 'Friends and I were discussing how different the conversations are now than they were just a year or so ago. Last year we were wondering if the school would close. This year we are building new subdivisions. People are quite excited.'"

"Perhaps even more promising, says McClinton, is that people from outside the community have come in to purchase the store and a bunch of commercial property along the highway. Their feeling is that with the incredible amount of drilling and development of the Bakken oil field east of Weyburn that the town is going to have a boom not seen since the region was initially settled 100 plus years ago."

The Leader Post from Canada. "The average price of a home in Saskatoon was more than $306,000 in April, an increase an RBC economist says is not a sustainable trend in the province."

"In March, the average home price reached $289,440 and jumped to $306,268 in April, 39 per cent higher than April 2007, the Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors reported Tuesday."

"The number of homes sold this year is on par with last year, at 1,480, but in the month of April the number of sales dropped 12 per cent to 418 from 476 at the same time in 2007."

"The decrease is a reflection of a larger inventory of homes, said SRAR executive officer Harry Janzen, who isn't surprised by another price increase. 'Because demand dictates price, we knew that we would have an increase, we just didn't know to what degree,' he said."

"This is the first time the average selling price of a home in the city has topped $300,000, a price nearly double that of the April 2006 average of $155,000."

"Amy Goldbloom, an economist with RBC Economics, believes such increases can't be sustained because provincial wage growth lags behind the pace of home price increases."

"During the next year, Goldbloom expects market activity in Saskatchewan to mimic what's now happening in Alberta. Overvaluation in that market has made it impossible for potential homeowners to buy, leading to more moderate price gains."

"'We think more moderation is ahead for Saskatchewan, similar to what is going on in Calgary and Edmonton,' she said. 'We're not looking for any sort of U.S. style correction, but we are looking for those markets that have heated up the quickest to have the most downside in terms of slower prices ahead.'"

"'We just think housing markets have overshot their true value and they're going to find a happier cruising speed to maintain that,' she said."

"Janzen, however, feels the current market in Saskatoon and the rest of the province is sustainable given a consistent influx of workers and steady wage increases. 'The buying frenzy, as I refer to it, that we had last spring is a lot more balanced this spring, and that signals that the market is still very, very strong,' he said."

"Home prices in Saskatoon, he added, remain some of the most affordable in the country when compared to bigger cities such as Edmonton, where in April the average home sold for $386,000, and Calgary, where the average home sold last month for $474,000."

"'We're really just coming into our own as it pertains to the exploitation of our resource base, every industry is growing,' he said. 'We recently had a meeting of our real estate boards from around the province ... and activity is happening in literally every area of the province.'"

The News Miner from Alaska. "The Greater Fairbanks Board of Realtors reported Tuesday that one-quarter fewer homes sold around Fairbanks during the first three months of 2008 than the same stretch last year."

"Real estate agents this winter said Fairbanks was cooling off from an overheated market but has largely missed a housing slump seen around the United States."

"'We currently have a 10-month supply of homes on the market,' said Amy Krier, president of the Realtors board in Fairbanks. '(That's) actually pretty balanced.'"

"James Wiedle, an analyst with the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., said rising home utility costs have likely thrown a wrench into the affordability of Fairbanks' housing market, particularly for homeowners who live on a tight budget."

"'When you consider that a lot of people are kind of on the cusp with home mortgage payments, it could push them into a situation where they can't afford to make their payment,' Wiedle said."

"The average of 154 homes reported sold around Fairbanks from January through March went for $218,407, according to the board. That was a 2 percent drop from last year's first quarter average sale price but above the average of $204,334 for the first part of 2006."

"The figure of 154 homes sold fell short of matching a surge seen in the first quarter of last year, when 206 homes were reported sold. The average reported selling price for one-bedroom homes rose by more than one-fifth from the first quarter of last year, while the average prices for two- and three-bedroom homes fell."

"Tuesday's numbers for Fairbanks show there are more homes on the market right now than in recent years - a 74 percent increase in inventory from early 2006 - and Krier said sellers are less likely to find multiple potential buyers 'fighting' for a home when it hits the marketplace."