The strong sellers market from Gig Harbor to Bainbridge Island — and all point in between — in the last couple of years has been tough on the buyers, especially first-timers. As if last year’s market wasn’t bad enough, Realtors report that it has gotten worse. The experience of buying a home, especially in a competitive price range, has turned into a real frenzy.

Some agents estimate there are as fewer as half the homes on the market this year, and the high-priced homes are selling slower but also brisk.

“First-time buyer is a difficult place to be,” says Susan Felten, associate broker with RE/MAX Unlimited on Bainbridge Island.

First-time buyers are not only limited by their market experience, they also have to compete with investors looking to buy rental homes. “You find people waving inspections, making cash deals and closing in 10 days,” says Dan Bennett with John L. Scott in Gig Harbor. “First-time buyers can’t compete with that.”

A few years ago, house shopping involved strolling through neighborhoods, visiting open house showings, and thinking about all the options for a while to make sure it’s the best deal. Buyers these days no longer can afford to take their time, and rarely have the luxury of negotiating the price.

“People are learning after loosing one or two opportunities that they’ve considered their options for too long, and too long can be one hour or one week,” Bennett says. He gives the example of a home on the north end of the Key Peninsula that received an offer the same afternoon it went on a market and had no other showings that day because of seller’s work schedule. The buyer offered $500 to $800 over asking price, and the deal was made. By next morning, there were as many as 10 requests for showings. “It could have quite possibly sold for more,” he says.

The shortage of homes for sale has been steadily pushing prices up over the last three years; some homes have seen a doubling in value.

“The days of the $200,000, three-bedroom houses are gone,” says Joe Sullivan, a RE/MAX associate broker in North Kitsap. Sullivan has seen his own North Kitsap house double in value in three years. “Three years ago you could find something nice for $200,000; today you spend $250,000-$275,000 for the same home.”

Even some manufactured homes are now selling above $200,000 — but they are not as appealing to many buyers since they have limited financing and don’t appreciate the same way stick-built homes do. Homes under $300,000 are selling rapidly and in some areas are hardly available.

“Back in the 1970s when inflation rate was 15 to 20 percent per year and mortgage rates were in double digits, I saw this type of escalating prices. In the last 20-25 years, I haven’t seen anything like this,” says the man known as the “Dean of Kitsap Real Estate,” Don Pennington, an associate broker with Windermere Real Estate in Silverdale. “Five years ago you could do very well for $125,000. Today you need as much as $100,000 more.”

He gives the example of a 2,450-square-foot home on less than one-acre parcel that sold for $185,000 three years ago and just recently sold for $275,000. Bennett gives another one: A waterfront home in Gig Harbor that was listed last summer for $525,000 and took three months to sell was back on the market recently, selling for $100,000 more in less than two weeks.

Realtors don’t see any improvement in the situation in the near future, though some hope that prices will become flat when the interest rates increase. They suggest that buyers try not to get discouraged, learn from the offers they don’t win, be prepared to act on a moment’s notice, and keep good communication with their agents.

“It’s not a bad time to be a buyer if you work with an experienced agent,” says Penny McLaughlin, broker owner with Penny’s Team in Poulsbo. “If the buyers have realistic expectations, they’ll find (a home) for them.”.