Missing life in the countryside, Seattle artist Emily Browne has been looking to relocate to Vashon since last fall, but like many others hoping to buy a home on the island, her progress has been slow because the number of homes on the market is near a record low.

Browne looked at some homes last fall, she said, but none had quite what she is looking for — studio space for her and room for her dog and chickens. She has looked at only three homes since then and is eager to look at others, but there simply haven’t been any to consider.

“There’s just been nothing this winter,” she said.

Indeed, while several real estate agents say they know of homes slated to come on the market this spring, they agree that there have been strikingly few options available for some time now.

“There are a lot of buyers, and there is nothing for them to buy,” said Beth de Groen, who owns the local Windermere office.

At Amiad & Associates in the heart of town, a small note at the top of a window display of houses for sale tells the story: “This is all there is, folks. Only 22 active listings on the island!”

Take away homes at the high and low ends, owner Emma Amiad says, and there are only about 15 homes that many buyers would likely be looking for and very few in the $350,000 to $450,000 range.

While real estate is often quiet on Vashon in the winter, this year has been markedly so, and she said the inventory has been low since summer.

“I have been in the business for 26 years and only once have there been fewer houses for sale,” Amiad said, noting that once in the mid-1990s active listings dropped to just 14 houses. Typical housing inventory is about 45 houses on the market at one time, she added.

Now, the island’s real estate agents are encouraging those who are considering listing their houses to do so — and sooner rather than later. Many people wait for the weather to improve and their gardens to be in bloom before they list their houses, de Groen noted, but she cautioned against that, as waiting will only increase the options for buyers.

“It is not a good idea to come on with 20 houses,” she said.

Far more significant for buyers than weather and blooming flowers are interest rates, which are still low, she said, at about 3.65 percent on a 30-year fixed mortgage.

At John L. Scott, owner Ken Zaglin stressed that with so few houses on the market, owners might be tempted to sell their homes quietly, but they should definitely list them.

“By being on the market, you get the best chance of receiving the highest and best value,” he said.

He added that he considers the extremely low number of houses on the market this winter to be something of an anomaly. Few houses were built on Vashon for several years during and after the recession, and last year was a strong year for real estate sales, with inventory that had been lingering on the market being sold. Combined, he believes those factors have contributed to the current scenario.

The situation on Vashon is being repeated throughout the Puget Sound region, according to information from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS). In the four-county Puget Sound region, the number of homes listed was down 12 percent from last year at this time. Sales have been up throughout the region, making for a tight market overall, with some suggesting that part of the reason for the lack of inventory region-wide is that sellers cannot find a new home to move to or because they purchased at the market’s height and may still be underwater in those homes.

Between 100 and 200 homes sell each year on Vashon, and real estate professionals say than now many houses that come on the market are snapped up quickly.

“If it is a well-priced home for its category, it is selling in a day or two,” Amiad said.

Real estate climates like the one currently on Vashon can lead to bidding wars, some of which have happened on Vashon already this year, Amiad said. While that may be good for the sellers, it can be difficult for buyers, as homes can sell for more than they are worth simply because there were no other choices available.

“A hot sellers’ market is not healthy,” she added.

Still, Zaglin noted that Vashon’s market is much less frenzied than Seattle’s and more balanced for buyers and sellers.

Among the people moving to Vashon, de Groen said, are several from northern California. They sell their homes there for millions of dollars and are buying homes on Vashon in the $900,000 range. They do not seem to be driving up prices here, she added.

Still, not everyone is that lucky, and mortgage broker Mike England says he worked with several people over the course of the last year who became discouraged looking on Vashon and bought elsewhere. One woman, he said, looked for more than a year on Vashon and recently gave up and bought a home near Everett. Others have moved to north Tacoma and Port Orchard.

“They look at what they can get elsewhere, and they just can’t get that here on the island,” he said.

Additionally, there are challenges to buying on the island not found in other places. In Seattle’s Wedgewood neighborhood, retired couple Morris and his wife Gale, who preferred not to give their last names, say they would like to move to Vashon and have been looking for a home for the past four months or so. They would like something near the water or with a water view and were prepared for process to take a while, he added. There is much buyers need to be aware of here, he said, from septic system problems to slide-prone slopes.

Like Browne, they have looked at few properties so far.

“There are one to three houses (for sale) on the island in our category,” he said. “In what we are looking for, they are few and far between.”

Still, those in the real estate industry are looking forward to what they expect will be a good year for home sales, following on last year, which was also strong. Information from the NWMLS shows that 2014 was the best year for home sales on Vashon since 2005. Last year, 182 home sold here, compared to 157 in 2013. The median price was $416,500, up 1 percent from 2013 and higher than the $390,000 median price in King County.

So far this year, 13 homes have sold, similar to last year at this time. In Seattle, Browne said she is hopeful she will be among those who will find what they are looking for soon.

“I am not going to give up,” she said.

This kind of fortitude can be good for the community, Amiad said, noting that people routinely look for six months or more before they purchase a home here.

“If they are hanging in that long and working that hard to find something, they are very committed to Vashon. They will be involved in the community,” she said.

Still, professionals agree it is time for people who want to sell their houses to do so.

“Get the house clean, the stuff out and the sign in front,” Amiad said. “We need the inventory.”