How is the Bellingham WA market?

[Chauvin Rupley]

Good afternoon everyone! I was hoping to get some information about Bellingham WA and whether or not now is a good time to buy or rent. I will be moving to Bellingham on May 1st for work and my family and I will remain there for a 3-4 year period. I guess my question is, should I look to buy right now or wait til the market gets better and just rent a place in the meantime? It seems like inventory is limited and deals are non-existent. Ideally I would like to purchase a duplex for my family to live in and then rent out the other but I haven't seen anything where numbers make sense. I'll comb through the usual online sources daily (Zillow, Redfin, etc) to get an idea on the area but I hope someone who lives there can give me the current pulse of the market. Sorry for the novice post! Still getting the hang of BP forums :) Thank you for your time!