'Knock on Wood'

"We've been ignoring the headlines and advising our clients to essentially do the same," she said. "We tell them that if they put a reasonable price on their house, someone will buy it. I can sell anyone's house in a day - you just have to price it right."

It appears that not enough people in the Valley are heeding such advice, because the local housing market has declined to the point where firms such as Bacon Wilson, which handle large volumes of real estate closings, are certainly feeling an impact on the bottom line.

Albano said this is part of a broad trickle-down effect from a slow housing market that he and most others believe is perhaps the most important factor impacting the fate of the local economy short- and long-term. That's because this trickle-down impacts businesses ranging from law firms to homebuilders to retailers, and it's real, based on what he's seen and heard anecdotally.

"It all starts with the real estate market, and right now, it's slow," he said, adding that he can qualify matters more easily than he can quantify them. "There were times during the boom three or four years ago when a deal would come in the door and you'd have to order a title exam from the local title examiner. The feedback you'd get was, 'maybe next week at the earliest.' That's not happening now; people are sitting around waiting for the phone to ring because people aren't buying and selling homes.

"I represent a few local developers who opted to get into the over-55-development concept," he continued. "It still is a great concept ... but for people to move into one of these complexes, they need to sell their house; there's a big backlog of inventory at these over-55 developments because people have signed up to move in but they can't until they close on their existing home."

While he insists he's a "glass-half-full person," and sees plenty of positive signs regarding the economy, Albano says the residential market is the key, and there are real questions about when it will rebound. "I'm glad I'm not a mortgage broker right now, and I'm glad I'm not a Realtor."

Stevens is a Realtor, and she expressed some cautious optimism that the market will improve, but included a number of caveats. Specifically, she said some attitudes will have to change if the big picture is to brighten considerably.

Elaborating, she said that both buyers and sellers should think through their strategic outlook and not respond to headlines, perceptions, or their what neighbor might be thinking or doing. For sellers, she said, most expectations on price are not realistic, and this is contributing to high inventory: "if a house is priced right, it will sell; if it's not, it won't." As for buyers, if they wait to pull the trigger due to reasonable expectations that prices will go still lower, they will only see any benefit offset by rising interest rates.

When or how much they'll rise is any one's guess, she continued, but logic dictates that they can't go much, if any, lower. "Once the economy stabilizes, rates will rise, and buyers will be sorry."