by Calculated Risk on 11/11/2005 11:50:00 AM

First, two articles on DC and Phoenix:

Housing Market Cooling, Data Say
In Washington, Sales Are Down, Inventory Is Up

The trend is most striking in Northern Virginia, where most of the region's growth has occurred, but it is evident almost everywhere. Statistics on home sales released by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc., the regional multiple-listing service, show that:

In the two counties and three cities that make up the Northern Virginia market, more than twice as many homes were available for sale in October as in the same month one year ago -- 7,122 homes, compared with 3,254 -- and sales are off 28 percent.

In the District, listings are up 62 percent and sales are down 28 percent.

In Montgomery County, listings are up 49 percent and sales are down 8 percent.

In Prince George's County, the listings are up 45 percent. But home sales have remained fairly stable, dropping only 2.6 percent.

The last time the region had this many houses for sale was the late 1990s, the MRIS figures show.

Phoenix: Housing market cools ... along with weather

Phoenix real estate executive Rich Rector has been seeing something unusual lately as he makes his rounds: "Open House" signs.
...
Whatever the reasons, there are signs the frenzy is coming to an end. There are now 17,000 residential properties listed for sale, up from just 5,000 a few months ago, and would-be buyers have regained some of their bargaining power.

And on affordability: C.A.R. reports California's Housing Affordability Index fell four points to 15 percent in September

The percentage of households in California able to afford a median-priced home stood at 15 percent in September, a 4 percentage-point decrease compared with the same period a year ago when the Index was at 19 percent, according to a report released today by the California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.). The September Housing Affordability Index (HAI) increased 1 percentage point compared with August, when it stood at 14 percent.