Q: I was amazed when you told me what my house is worth today.

I bought it for $260,000 in 1998 and, although I've done a few nice things to up-date it, I really haven't changed it enough to double its value. You pegged the asking price at about $525,000 and the listing agent you recommended to me agreed. How did all this happen? I'm not complaining, mind you, I'm just sort of stunned.

A: It's difficult with our tiny market to get a real handle on pricing. The best way for most of us to grasp the changes is by using situations like yours. There have been many homes sell over the last year that doubled in value in six or seven years. In fact, there have been some that doubled in much less time.

I took a sampling of 20 houses that sold in 2005 that had sold the last time in 1998 through 2000. Most had gone up at least 50%. Many had increased in value 80% or more! Of course there are specific issues with each property that can mean it will go up faster than the average. By the same token, some houses went up only 25% to 35% in that time period. But let's face it, that's still a huge gain.

We are not alone in this incredible cost spiral. Prices have gone up significantly all across the country. In the Western part of the country most major areas have seen an increase of between 15% and 40% over the last year and a half, according to the National Association of Realtors. Our Puget Sound region saw and increase of between 15% and 27% depending on location, over the course of 2005.

Add to that national and regional trend the fact that we have a high demand and a very low inventory of homes on Vashon and you have the recipe for inflated housing prices. There is no end in sight so be sure to reinvest your gain quickly.