THE KRUGPOCALYPSE ARRIVES!:

Home sales slow a bit, but sellers still see lots of buyers (Melissa Allison, 3/07/06, Seattle Times)

The housing market around Puget Sound has slowed from its blistering pace of a year ago, meaning some sellers don't get multiple offers and some have to lower their prices.

But prices remain buoyant, with the median sales price for a single-family home in King County last month climbing to $392,950, up 14.7 percent from February 2005, according to numbers released Monday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. The Kirkland-based group tracks home sales in several Washington counties.

Sellers can no longer count on numerous offers for properties with high price tags, but buyers are not calling the shots either.

"It's more balanced than it was last year, but it's not a buyer's market by any stretch of the imagination," said Mike Grady, president of Coldwell Banker Bain, which has 19 offices around Central Puget Sound.

That pffft is the sound of the housing bubble bursting.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 7, 2006 5:29 PM