The difference here is in incomes.

The prices are lower than in many parts of the state, even though the incomes are fairly average.

Take downtown Seattle for example, where there seems to be condo projects springing out of the ground everywhere. The same thing's happening in downtown Spokane.

The large percentage change in building permits are usually because of a large apartment building or two, but that's not what's happening in Cowlitz County --- most are single-family dwellings.

More troublesome is the inability to find affordable starter homes.

As a result, we should see a stabilizing in prices to bring them more in line with inflation.