A report from the Santa Cruz Sentinel in California. "Bay Area home buyers facing ever-escalating prices are adopting a new strategy — watching and waiting. Bay Area sales volume in September dropped nearly 20 percent, scraping lows not seen in the month for more than a decade. The runaway market has slowed, with median prices for existing homes down to $850,00 in September from a peak of $935,000 in May. But year-over-year prices continued to surge last month, according to CoreLogic."

"Sales volume tumbled 18 percent across the region. Sales in Santa Clara County dropped 25 percent as prices rocketed out of reach for many buyers. San Francisco and Alameda counties both saw declines of about 14 percent."

"In San Francisco County, home to 884,000 residents, fewer than 400 homes changed hands. Santa Clara County, with more than 1.9 million people, had 1,350 home and condo sales."

"Homes in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties took an average of 13 days to sell, a few days longer than last September, according to Aculist. Meanwhile, the inventory of homes on the market increased 74 percent in Santa Clara and 29 percent in San Mateo during the last 12 months."

"Bay Area real estate agents are feeling the cooling trend. Homes are sitting on the market longer, and all-cash, as-is offers for properties in hot neighborhoods are less common, some say. 'I’ve seen a pause in the market,' said San Jose agent Gustavo Gonzalez, who sells in the East Foothills. 'Some of that is seasonal, some of that is interest rates going up, some of it is buyers just burned out.'"

"'We’re seeing a peak. Markets go up and markets go down,' said Matt Rubenstein of Compass Real Estate in Contra Costa County. 'Be prepared to ride it out.'"

From CNBC. "Home sales in the San Francisco Bay area have been falling for months, but in September buyers pulled back in an even bigger way. Sales of both new and existing homes plunged nearly 19 percent compared with September 2017, according to CoreLogic. It marked the slowest September sales pace since 2007 and twice the annual drop seen in August."

"Buyers in the Bay Area had been hampered by high prices due to very low supply, but that dynamic is changing. Active listings in October were up 130 percent year-over-year in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara market and up 42 percent in San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, according to realtor.com."

From Bisnow. "Across the Bay Area, home sales were down in September, reflecting a 20% drop from September 2017. For the year, housing sales are trending 4% lower, according to the latest analysis from Pacific Union Chief Economist Selma Hepp."

"As sales declined, inventory rose, up 14% year over year in September, which meant about 2,000 more homes sitting on the market. 'The rebalancing between buyers and sellers is driven by affordability [constraints] and buyer fatigue, with the biggest change seen in relatively affordable and previously fiercely competitive markets,' Hepp wrote."

"While all Bay Area home sales were down for September, it ranged from a 9% year-over-year drop in San Francisco to a 27% decline in Sonoma County. Three counties in particular had lower sales for the month: Santa Clara, Contra Costa and Alameda."

"'While affordability has long been a serious concern in the Bay Area, recent median home price hikes coupled with rising mortgage rates have put a 20% to 25% dent in buyers’ purchasing power,' Hepp wrote. 'The impact of these forces is causing fewer sales in relatively more affordable parts of the region, such as Sonoma, Contra Costa, and Alameda counties.'"

"Hepp said there is a sense that the Bay Area's housing market has reached its peak, which has driven up inventory since more buyers don't want to purchase a home at the top of the market even as more sellers listed their homes."

"'To some extent, volatility in financial markets and geopolitical developments may be exaggerating consumer fears,' she wrote. 'However, the underlying macroeconomic environment and California’s continued growth confirms that housing markets may be returning to a more normal balance between buyers and sellers rather than preparing to topple.'"