For years, it’s been automatic. From Thanksgiving through the third week of February, the number of bid requests has dwindled and sales cycles lengthened. Come spring, people have started looking forward to the springtime sunshine and sales have increased once again.

This year’s “upswing” was hard for experts to predict due to uncertainty in the housing markets and national consumer spending. Our clients prepared for a delayed upswing of up to two months by selling heavily in October and November to minimize the pain.

As it turns out, the Seattle and Portland markets remained pretty strong. Looking at the numbers coming in, the momentum is already building and is essentially just three weeks behind a typical year’s spring routine. This is great news for Seattle and Portland! 2008 looks to be an outstanding year!