Job boom yet to inflate Everett home prices.(Special Report: Real Estate Quarterly)

Older 'lunch bucket' dwellings in central area of city fetching between $100,000 and $175,000

The city of Everett is awash with jobs, thanks in large part to The Boeing Co. and the U.S. Navy.

"Everett is one of few places in the world where there are more jobs than there are people," says John Thoresen, president of the Economic Development Council of Snohomish County.

While jobs have bolstered Everett's economy, they haven't had much affect yet on its residential real estate market. But that's about to change this year, say real estate observers, who expect all the components of that market - single-family homes, condominiums and apartments - to tighten.

Everett lies about 35 miles north of Seattle. The original city limits are surrounded by water - Puget Sound on the west, the Snohomish River on the north and east. When Everett expanded, it did so to the south, through a series of annexations that have extended the city to Silver Lake near 116th Street Southeast.

For years, Everett's economy was based on timber and other resources. Beginning with World War II, however, …