There is speculation that one reason for the stall of the housing market in Whatcom County, particularly homes $500,000 and above, is because people have not been moving in to the area and buying homes. The graph below shows that population growth in Whatcom County has slowed in the past few years. Of interest is that it hasn't gone to zero--population is still growing. Also, population growth has been relatively small--1-2% compared to what it was in the late 80's and around 1990. That was when home prices really exploded.