A DSNews.com post - Are Cash Sales Creating a Dangerous Mirage? - covering the latest RealtyTrac report has been making its way around the Twitterverse today, with an ominous opening paragraph:

"Home prices and home sales have been rising over the past few years, pointing to a recovery in the housing market, but RealtyTrac warns that what we are seeing may not be a true recovery but instead a mirage created by investors—a dangerous mirage that could lead to trouble in the years to come."

According to the report, cash purchases made up nearly half of home sales across the nation in September. So we took a look at our local data to see how we compare to the national rate reported by RealtyTrac.  Fortunately the investor boogeymen artificially propping up prices doesn't appear to be "creating an unsustainable housing bubble" locally.  

Inventory remains tight...but the roller coaster ride might be over

Flashback. It is March 2006. New listings are up for the 13th consecutive month and contract activity is down for the 11th month in a row. Inventory has nearly quadrupled in the course of one year (from 4,152 listings in March 2005 to 15,640 in March 2006).