Real-estate agent Tessie Fugett says prospective homeowners are learning the hard way that the rules have changed for buying houses in Stafford County.

Some of her clients lose out on as many as four homes before they come to appreciate the demand for single-family homes in the county.

"We have to really convince them, and then they think you can negotiate," said Fugett, an agent with Remax Realty on Garrisonville Road in North Stafford. "If you want the place, you have to offer the price and more."

Those entering the resale housing market in this county on the fringe of Northern Virginia not only find themselves in a bidding war, they have to act fast.

Those interested in building a new home face a different problem: They routinely wait nine months for a house. Those who grow impatient and back out of new-home deals quickly discover resale prices have escalated.

In today's otherwise slow economy, the housing market remains the shining star. And the fundamental rules of economics are playing out, industry leaders say.

"As much supply as is being put on the market, there is equal or more demand," said Andy Garrett, president of Stafford-based Garrett Development Corp.

While the county Board of Supervisors has been working recently to limit growth, houses keep going up on lots previously approved for building. The number of building permits approved for single-family houses in Stafford jumped 43 percent from 2000 to 2002, according to data provided by the county's Department of Code Administration.

A total of 14,855 lots have been approved for nearly 200 subdivisions in Stafford since 1984. The county does not have data readily available to show how much land remains available for residential construction, but 87 percent of the approved lots had been built on as of April 1, according to a report by the Department of Planning and Community Development.

That construction spree has made Stafford the ninth-fastest-growing locality in the nation, with an estimated population of 105,000.