This is positive news, but my greatest concern is the last line in the quoted sentence, "The government's tax breaks have spurred sales to their highest level in nearly three years." What happens when the tax break ends in June? We cannot afford to extend the credits indefinitely - or can we afford not to?

Quoted: Stocks got off to a positive start after a report from the National Association of Realtors said home resales jumped 7.4 percent in November. That was much more than the 2.5 percent increase analysts expected. The government's tax breaks have spurred sales to their highest level in nearly three years.

Still far below the national rate, but it's increasing.

Quoted; RealtyTrac Inc. said the report also shows one in every 417 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in November. In Washington state, there were 3,288 foreclosure filings last month, with one in every 835 housing units receiving a foreclosure notice in November — a 15 percent increase from November 2008.

But sales were up...a lot.

Mixed string of news about the market over the past year, which is why I'm so hesitant to say we have recovered. The economic and housing situation is not simple; many factors still at play that are influencing pricing, demand from buyers, and supply of housing being released.

Quoted: According to data collected by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS), the average sale price of a home in King County last month was $415,581, down from $421,521 in October and well off the average sale price of November 2008 of $440,062. The median (half sold for more, half for less) sale price in King County last month was $337,000, down from $349,950 in October and down from $365,000 in November 2008.

Quoted: <p>There are more than 400 parks and open spaces in Seattle. While everyone has their favorites, there are dozens you've probably never heard of.</p>

Quoted: Among Washington cities, Tacoma is No. 34, Kent is No. 83, Among Washington cities, Tacoma is No. 34, Kent is No. 83, Yakima is No. 88, Everett is No. 90, Spokane is No. 121, Federal Way is No. 141, Vancouver is No. 215, Spokane Valley is No. 261, Bellingham is No. 286, and Bellevue is No. 343.

Quoted: Sold on its square footage -- Quadrant advertisements run during the housing boom presented a family lost in its living room -- the house lacked a heater powerful enough to warm all that space, Sigafoos said. Sections of the home had been left without insulation by crews working for the Weyerhaeuser Co.-owned developer, he claimed, and wet materials used during the house's rushed construction provided a foothold for mold.

Quoted: According to RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure database, 6,495 properties entered some stage of foreclosure in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue region in the third quarter of this year. That translates into a 38 percent increase from a year ago, putting the region 95th out of 203 metro areas that RealtyTrac gauges.

Lending professionals are continuously trying to predict trends. This past summer, the belief was that rates were definitely headed to 6%+ territory. Now, we've actually reversed the trend and gone lower.

Word is that the Fed will keep rates low until the end of spring 10, which should, theoretically, bolster monetary supply and allow banks to continuet to transact in commercial and residential lending. Since there's an extension of the home buyer credits, rates probably won't stray too far from the 5-6% range for the near-term.

The FHA helps homebuyers who often cannot qualify for a loan otherwise. The problem is that there is usually a very good reason for why a potential buyer doesn't qualify for a conventional loan - poor/limited credit history is one, lack of funds is another. The result is that the FHA lends money to a pool of higher-risk borrowers (that is, a higher chance of default). It's no surprise, then, that as of this past summer, about 17% of FHA borrowers were behind on at least 1 payment.

I don't see anyway around a bailout of the FHA by taxpayers within the next few years.

Quoted: The Federal Housing Administration says its financial cushion has dipped to a dangerously low level but should remain above zero under "most economic scenarios." The agency, a major source of funds for first-time homebuyers, faces mounting concerns that it will eventually need a taxpayer bailout as losses grow from homeowners who lose their jobs and can't pay their mortgages.