Is the Spokane real estate market finally bouncing back?  Not yet, according to the latest statistics from Realtor.com:

Median list prices for homes in Spokane, WA hit $185,000 in August 2012, a -2.58% decrease from one year ago this month, and -2.12% decrease from July 2012. 

The national median list price in August 2012 was $190,000, a 0.05% increase compared to August 2011.

Active for sale inventory of homes in Spokane, WA in August 2012 leveled out at 3,166, a -13.47% decrease compared to August 2011.

National inventory counts for August 2012 were 1,843,736, a -18.68% decrease as compared to a year ago. 

The median age of inventory in Spokane, WA in August was 77 days, a 8.45% increase compared to July 2012. 

Nationally, the median age of inventory was 91 days, a 3.41% increase compared to July.

Two of the three key indicators are going in the wrong direction, at least from the perspective of homeowners and home sellers.  Of course, if you're a first-time home buyer, this is all good news!

For details on all 146 metro areas monitored by Realtor.com in August 2012, click here.

Has the Spokane real estate market finally bottomed out?  Hard to say just yet, but the latest statistics indicate that we might be close.  Here are the highlights from realtor.com

• The median list price for a home on the market in January was $179,950.  That's virtually the same as it was one month ago ($179,000), and one year ago ($180,000.)  Staying flat is nothing to get excited about, but it sure beats the steadily falling prices we've seen over the past few years.
• Another positive sign - the median number of days on the market has dropped from from 116 to 110 over the past year.  
• Also, the number of homes for sale has dropped 15% since January, 2011, to 2,534.  Now, that could be because some frustrated home sellers have given up and pulled their house off the market.  But let's be optimists, right?  It's because homes are finally selling again!  The tide is turning!

Click here to see all the details, and how Spokane stacks up against other cities.

Spokane is on the cutting edge – at least for Spokane County's Meals on Wheels program.

The county is about to enter territory that has never been explored by opening a Silver Cafe to the public. Normally, Silver Cafes are built in senior homes, where those 60-years-of-age and older can enjoy a home cooked meal for very little or no cost.

The idea to open the cafe to the public started with Pam Almeida, the Executive Director of the county's Meals on Wheels program (not to be confused with Mid-City Concerns Meals on Wheels, which is a different agency.)

“We had been told many times before that our food was good and restaurant quality,” Almeida said. So she thought why should our seniors be the only ones to enjoy the food?

Almeida has been to the Moose Crossing Cafe along Nevada in North Spokane before, but on this particular day there was a sign that simply said: “Because of road construction, we couldn't maintain our customer base.”

They were closed.