A report from the Seattle Times in Washington. "The cool-down in the King County real-estate market has now reached six months, and the drop in home prices over that span is among the largest on record. King County’s median single-family home price fell to $644,000 in November, all the way down from $726,000 in the spring, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Prices are also falling faster here than anywhere else in the country."

"The price drop equals 11.3 percent over six months, more than any May-to-November stretch in recorded history for King County. The biggest six-month decline for any time of year happened after the housing bubble popped last decade and prices plunged 14 percent. When the dot-com bubble burst, prices never dropped more than 6 percent in six months."

"Even going back a full year, prices dropped in several Seattle neighborhoods in November, including Southeast Seattle, Sodo/Beacon Hill, the Capitol Hill/Central Seattle area, Queen Anne/Magnolia, the Ballard/Green Lake area and downtown."

"Buyers are seeing far more homes to choose from. Countywide, the number of houses on the market jumped 114 percent year-over-year, easily the largest gain on record dating back to 2000 – led by a whopping 177 percent increase in the city of Seattle. The last three months have now featured the three biggest increases in inventory in history. The trend is entirely attributable to more homes sitting on the market unsold, as opposed to more people putting homes up for sale."

"For condos, inventory more than tripled in the past year, while prices are down $61,000 from the spring."

"Sales also continued to plummet, down 19 percent in the past year. It was the seventh straight month that fewer people bought homes. Even mortgage interest rates, which had been on a steady climb for much of the year, have fallen back down recently. 'It’s a little bit of a herd mentality,' said Sabrina Booth, a Windermere broker in Seattle."

"Before, buyers were rushing to outdo each other by engaging in frantic bidding wars and signing away rights like inspection clauses; now, they’re collectively taking their time, negotiating prices down and getting sellers to pay for fixes to their homes."

"Stelina Simpson recalls selling her Ballard home three years ago with five offers all above list price, including one all-cash, a few days after it went on the market, and then dealing with the same frenzy when she turned around and bought a house in West Seattle. Recently she’s begun looking for a trade-up home and has had a completely different experience."

''(Years ago), I was making offers on houses within the same day it came on the market, and you had several people bidding against you,' Simpson said. 'Now I don’t feel like any of that is really happening. Almost every one I’ve looked at, they’ve dropped their price if it’s been on the market more than 30 days.'"

"Among the places where prices dropped on a year-over-year basis in November: East Bellevue, the Eastside area south of Interstate 90, Richmond Beach-Shoreline, Jovita-West Hill Auburn and Renton-Highlands & Kennydale."

"Looking since the peak spring period, prices have fallen more than $100,000 in the Capitol Hill/Central Seattle area, Queen Anne/Magnolia, Richmond Beach-Shoreline, the Eastside south of I-90, East Bellevue and Redmond-Carnation."

"The median price of a home hit $760,000 in Seattle and $885,000 on the Eastside, both down about $70,000 to $75,000 from their spring highs. In absolute terms, the $82,000 price drop in King County over the last six months is easily the most ever for any half-year span, a function of how high prices have gotten. Compared to just a month ago, prices decreased $27,000."

"The cool-down is also starting to spread to the rest of the Puget Sound region — inventory is up and sales are down by double digits in all four local counties."

"Snohomish County’s home costs have dipped from $511,000 in the spring to $470,000 now. Looking back a full year, prices were still up 5.6 percent, while inventory has surged 88 percent. In Kitsap County, the median home sold for $330,000, up 6.5 percent in a year but down $34,000 from its spring record."