The housing market is certainly shifting away from a record-breaking pace.

The housing market is shifting away from the record-breaking pace of last year to a more sustainable pace.

All housing market indicators are pointing to a move away from the frenzied record sales pace to, I would say, a more healthy rate of activity.

The market clearly has some legs left. Buyers who were sitting on the fence, hoping mortgage rates would decline, have decided to make the move now.

I feel comfortable with that, although 40 percent would be in the upper end of possibility. As for the lower end, getting double-digit appreciation will be an easy task for Seattle.

Home-buying is not a snap decision -- people mentally prepare for it and search for homes, and this is a three-to-four-month process. Plus, even with the rise in mortgage rates, they're still below last year's figure and still close to 45-year lows.

In the Midwest, where homes are very affordable and where home prices have risen much slower than the national average, sales are more dependent on job growth in the overall economy.

The larger declines were recorded in the high-priced markets that are more sensitive to mortgage rate changes.

Any time there's job creation, historically prices don't go down.

You need a strong job market with people in their 20s moving out of their parents' homes before rents recover.