The national headlines maybe talking gloom and doom, but my office stats and our market in general tell a different story.  There are a lot of properties that have been listed for several months are now pending.  We are seeing a lot of pendings.  That is encouraging.  There seem to be conflicting reports about how things are going to go down this year.  Optimists are saying that this is going to be a good year and the market Bears are saying that it could be 2009-10. I think we need to seperate the home market from the money market.  It appears that buyers are starting to get the message that the cost of money is low and there are a lot of homes out there.  I was just on a radio talk show that focuses on small business and was asked about the buyer's market.  I told them that it's not a fire sale, but there is a much better selection and prices are good.  If you're a buyer, have good credit and want to become a home owner; now is the time.  Make sure you're well represented and ask questions.  This is too important not to be represented, fully involve and knowledgeable.