For 14 months, Lylene Johnson, listings specialist at the Muljat Group, has watched the number of homes on the market in Bellingham inch up when compared to data from the same month the previous year.

During that same time, the number of pending sales has decreased from data for the prior year. According to a new report by her team at the Muljat Group, that could mean the market is adjusting, and sellers haven’t noticed it yet, she said.

Johnson saw a similar trend in 2007 and 2008, before the real estate market crashed. She doesn’t expect a crash like the one in 2008, because credit isn’t as easy to get as it was then. But she does think the data points to a slowdown in the market.

“For at least a year before 2008 the inventory kept rising and rising. People hadn’t yet realized the market had changed. I see that as an indicator that there’s more available and people aren’t buying. ” Johnson said. “I’m not anticipating another big bust, not to that extent.”

What does that mean for buyers and sellers?

For sellers: the market isn’t strong. Housing condition, location and price must be competitive, because buyers have options, she said.

For buyers: the underpinnings of the market are still good, but homes may not be profitable investments in the short term.

“Be careful as you buy,” she said. “If you’re buying a house to sell in two years, now is not the time. But that is never a good strategy.”

Johnson compiles her data from Northwest Multiple Listings Service. According to data the service released data last month, third quarter home sales in Whatcom County were similar to the third quarter of 2013. They dropped from August to September, which Johnson said is normal.

Sale prices declines in Bellingham, Ferndale and Lynden, but increased throughout the rest of the county.

Johnson’s data: