A press release from the California used house salespeople. "The California housing market posted its largest year-over-year sales decline since March 2014 and remained below the 400,000-level sales benchmark for the second consecutive month in September, indicating that the market is slowing as many potential buyers put their homeownership plans on hold, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said today."

"'The housing market continued to deteriorate and the decline in sales worsened as interest rates remained on an upward trend. More would-be buyers are self-sidelining as they believe home prices will start to come down soon, making housing more affordable despite rising interest rates,' said C.A.R. President Steve White. 'Tax reform, which increases the cost of homeownership, also is contributing to the decline, especially in high-cost areas such as the San Francisco Bay Area and Orange County.'"

"The statewide median home price dropped to $578,850 in September. The September statewide median price was down 2.9 percent from $596,410 in August but up 4.2 percent from a revised $555,400 in September 2017."

"'Price appreciations have slowed in the last few months and inventory has risen considerably since June when the statewide median price hit a new peak,' said C.A.R. Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. 'Buyers are becoming increasingly concerned about market developments and are reluctant to purchase at the prevailing market price. As such, the deceleration in price growth will likely continue in coming months.'"

"On a regionwide, non-seasonally adjusted basis, the Southern California region led the state's sales decline, falling 17.3 percent from a year ago. Los Angeles County experienced the largest drop in the region at 22 percent, while Orange County declined 21.8 percent."

"Sales in the Bay Area declined 16.4 percent from September 2017, the largest decline since October 2010. Santa Clara posted the largest drop at 22.6 percent, while Marin experienced the lowest decline at 1.1 percent. Alameda (-10.4 percent), Contra Costa (-17.3 percent), Napa (-14.2 percent), San Francisco (-11.5 percent), San Mateo (-14.6 percent), Solano (-19.3 percent), and Sonoma (-19.4 percent) counties all posted double-digit declines."

"Statewide active listings rose for the sixth consecutive month following 33 straight months of declines, increasing 20.4 percent from the previous year. September's listings increase was the biggest in nearly four years."

"At the regional level, the San Francisco Bay Area increased the most in active listings, with a surge of 44 percent year over year. The increase was most obvious in Santa Clara, as the county's active listings more than doubled (+113 percent) from last September. The Southern California region and the Central Valley region also had substantial gains in active listings, with year-over-year increases of 23 percent and 13 percent, respectively."

"The Unsold Inventory Index, which is a ratio of inventory over sales, rose again in September from 3.3 months in September 2017 to 4.2 months in September 2018. The index measures the number of months it would take to sell the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate."

"C.A.R.'s statewide sales price-to-list price ratio* hit the lowest level in 20 months but was down from a year ago at 98.5 percent in September 2018 compared with 99.1 percent in September 2017. The decline indicates that buyers may have more negotiation power in the current market than a year ago."