As you can see from the report below, the housing market is continuing to adjust.  We now have a 6.4 months supply of homes for sale today, and that number is likely to continue to increase.  Pending Sales, or homes that have accepted offers but have not yet closed, as still behind last year at this time while the inventory for sale today is up 40% over the same time last year: Weekly Market Activity Report – May 22, 2006

What does this mean to you as a consumer?

If you are selling your home, expect it to take 60-80 days to receive an acceptable offer.  If you price your home even a little high, buyers are likely to make an offer on the houses that are priced appropriately, rather than try and negotiate you down to the level of the correctly priced homes.

If you are a buyer, you now have more options available to you than this market has seen in many years.  There are likely 2, 3, or more houses that are in the price, location, style and condition you are looking for.  While this does provide you with many options, it may make it tougher to make a decision on just one.  If you’re having problems deciding, it may be easiest to do a side-by-side comparison between the two homes and weigh the pros and cons of each.