A report from The M Report. "More than three-quarters of Americans say their housing markets are cooling down as well, according to the Q4 2018 Modern Homebuyer Survey, released by ValueInsured. After five straight quarters of a majority of Americans saying their market was 'overheated,' 72 percent said in the most recent survey that they are not surprised that their market is now slowing down."

"Millennials, in particular, are beginning to perceive a shift in the housing market with 72 percent saying home shoppers are 'less aggressive' than a year ago in their market and 67 percent saying they believe homes purchased today will decline in value over the next year."

"Looking forward, ValueInsured’s CEO and Founder, Joe Melendez, said, 'Expect the market to stall in the near term.'"

"After first reporting 'overheating' in the housing market in August 2017 and warning of pending correction, Melendez said, 'Fast forward fifteen months, Southern California is in its worst housing slump in over a decade, Seattle leads the nation in fastest home-price drop, and North Texas has the largest sales decline in seven years. Buyers have switched from hoop jumpers to bargain-hunter mode.'"

"Additionally, even with the moderation in many markets, a majority—72 percent—of Americans say home prices are too high, which ValueInsured noted is an increase of 10 points from the second-quarter report."

"The most-cited culprits for high home prices were 'flippers and speculative investors' and 'wealthy transplants from more expensive housing markets,' which were cited by 70 percent and 66 percent of respondents, respectively."

"More than half of respondents—59 percent—who expressed interest in purchasing a home say they will wait for 'meaningful correction' before making a purchase, and 14 percent will 'drop out of buying altogether if a correction does not occur.'"

From KUOW on Washington. "Coffee giant Starbucks announced plans to lay off 350 people, most of them at the company headquarters in the Sodo neighborhood. That’s roughly 7 percent of its Seattle headquarters. The cuts began in early September when several senior executives lost their jobs."

"These layoffs, although not significant in the grand scheme of Seattle’s economy, come at a time when the city’s budget office is predicting a slowdown in growth. Indeed, half an hour after Starbucks made the layoffs public, Amazon announced where its second and third new major offices would be located — North Virginia and New York City."

"Rents have already started to fall, with landlords giving away free months to entice tenants. Housing prices are sinking even in the city’s more popular neighborhoods, with 'for sale' signs staying up far longer than even a few months ago."

"Amazon growing elsewhere means less jobs growth here in Seattle in the long term and potentially less office construction — less boom, in other words. The city predicts that this year — 2018 — will be Seattle’s peak."