A report from Bloomberg. "This is how housing markets turn. Slowly. Six years of home-price gains outpacing wage growth; bidding wars replaced by sales at the asking price; days or weeks on the market turning into months; rising mortgage rates. First-time shoppers start to get priced out, making it harder for move-up buyers to sell, and the slowdown ripples gradually up the real estate food chain."

"Liz Hogan, a realtor at Compass, has a client looking at a house in Pinecrest, Florida listed at $899,000. The seller has been out of town, delaying the deal, and the client is getting antsy, she said. 'His thing to me every day is, ‘I’ll be patient, but not that patient because my mortgage broker told me the rates are going up and if they go up any more I’m not going to be able to afford this house,' Hogan said. 'He’s petrified he’s going to get priced out.'"

"Shares of Seattle-based Amazon.com returned more than 900 percent from the first quarter of 2012 until September 4, 2018, and housing prices in the city have almost doubled, according to Case-Shiller. The company’s shares have dropped about 20 percent since the beginning of September and that’s already being reflected in the housing market."

"'There’s been a lot of money in Seattle going into housing but over the last couple month the Amazon stock price has gone down, so if that continues, that would have a negative impact on the Seattle housing market,' said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. 'This could be a temporary dip or it could be longer term. It’s kind of like their piggy bank.'"

"Seattle properties are staying on the market longer, and selling for the asking price, even as inventory remains low, said Sol Villarreal, an agent with Windermere Real Estate Co., who largely works with first-time home buyers in the city."

"'Just knowing that the list price is what you can actually buy the house for, that’s a big shift,' said Villarreal. 'List prices are still very much in sellers’ favor and still going up at a meaningful rate. It’s just removing that uncertainty of the multiple offer market' for buyers."

"Seattle, Denver and Baltimore are seeing price growth slow by the quarter, said Skylar Olsen, director of economic research and outreach for Zillow Group Inc. 'In many ways, we’re so used to things moving so fast that we forget that housing markets are supposed to be stable,' Olsen said. 'These are long-term financial decisions. They should move more slowly.'"

From KSL on Utah. "Home prices in many counties along the Wasatch Front jumped double digits in the third quarter of 2018 when compared to the same time last year, according to the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. The shortage of housing units means intense competition for entry-level homes. Just ask the Di Fini family who spent the past three years looking for a home."

"'We chose Utah because we have family here,' Katrina Di Fini said, 'but we knew living here in Utah meant that we’d have to struggle financially.'"

"The family changed realtors several times and ended up working with Amy Wilson this year. 'It really has caused a frenzy for a lot of people,' Wilson said, of the current housing market. 'You’re looking at $350,000 to $400,000.' Wilson said about entry-level home prices. 'You’re looking at a $2,300 mortgage payment. That’s a lot for a small family. Especially with young kids.'"

"'In 2004, the median sales price for a single-family home was $160,000 in the Salt Lake metro area, according to the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. Fast forward to September of 2018, and the median sales price has more than doubled to $347,000.

"'Our incomes aren’t keeping up,' said research analyst Dejan Eskic, who works at the policy institute."

"Eskic helped author a May 2018 report titled 'What Rapidly Rising Prices Mean for Housing Affordability.' The analysis predicts that if trends from the last few decades hold, the median home price along the Wasatch Front would be $1.3 million by the year 2044."

"'Everything that goes into building a house is getting more expensive,' said Eric Allen, regional director for Metrostudy, which tracks Utah’s homebuilding industry. 'We’re building like crazy; we can’t keep up with demand right now.' Allen’s newest numbers show nearly 70 percent of homes being built right now are priced above $300,000."

"'There were some tough moments,' Di Fini said of her family’s housing search. 'One of the things we decided to change was looking out farther and looking for a smaller home,' Di Fini said."

"The Di Fini’s quest for a home took them up and over Point of the Mountain and into Eagle Mountain, even though it meant an hour commute each way to work in downtown Salt Lake City. Instead of a house, they purchased a three-bedroom condo."

"They made the right decision, according to their realtor. 'In this market, you just have to be a realist,' Wilson said."

"She urges families to not get into trouble and allocate too much of their income to a mortgage payment. 'If you need to get into a condo, if you need to get into a townhome, there’s nothing wrong with that,' Wilson said. 'Get into it for a couple of years and then rent it out.'"

"Since ownership was the ultimate goal, the Di Finis are happy to finally be building equity. 'It felt so nice to sign, and just close and know that we were finally buying something that was like an investment for us,' Di Fini said."