A report from the Mercury News in California. "The median sale price for an existing house, excluding condos, in Santa Clara County was $1.15 million in November, down 2 percent from $1.175 million at the same time last year, according to CoreLogic. It’s the first time prices have dropped in the county on a year-over-year basis since August 2016 and the largest drop since January 2012, CoreLogic analyst Andrew LePage."

"Gustavo Gonzalez, president-elect of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors speculates buyers got spooked last month over talk that the real estate market had gone as high as it could, prompting them to wait in hopes prices would come down. 'Nobody wants to buy at the peak,' he said."

"Prices dropped more dramatically in November in Napa and Sonoma counties. The median sale price for an existing house fell nearly 11 percent in Napa County and almost 8 percent in Sonoma County compared to last November. Prices rose in those communities following the fires, LePage said, so last month’s dips might be attributable to a correction of that spike."

"In the East Bay, real estate agent William Doerlich is seeing more price reductions and noticing that homes aren’t selling quite as quickly or for as much money as they did a few months before."

"'It’s definitely been a bit of a slowdown, but you know what? When you’ve been in the hyper market we’ve been in for the last seven or eight years, it’s not a catastrophe,' said Doerlich."

The San Francisco Chronicle. "Bay Area home prices rose at their slowest year-over-year pace in almost two years last month, another sign of a decelerating market. The median price paid for a home or condo in the nine counties was $815,000 in November, down 3.8 percent from October and up 3.8 percent from November 2017, CoreLogic said. The median price is down 6.9 percent from its all-time high of $875,000 set in June."

"Sales of new and existing single-family homes and condos, meanwhile, totaled 6,147 in November, down 14 percent from October and down 15.2 percent from November of last year. Sales typically slow between October and November, but the average decline since 1988 is only 8.8 percent."

From NBC Bay Area. "Bay Area home sales declined 15 percent in November compared to the same month last year, marking the second-largest decline in more than two years and the slowest November in four years, according to CoreLogic. Sales in the nine Bay Area counties tracked by CoreLogic have fallen on a year-over-year basis the past six consecutive months, the report says."

"CoreLogic analyst Andrew LePage said in a statement, 'November's slowdown affected all major price categories, including a nearly 10 percent annual drop in $1 million-plus sales, which have fallen year-over-year in two of the last three months. Higher mortgage rates worsened affordability constraints this year and in recent months stock market volatility could have contributed to a high-end pullback.'"

The Petaluma Argus Courier. "A look back at the top local stories of 2018: Several large scale housing projects were approved or broke ground in the past year, but Petaluma remained mired in a regional housing crisis."

"Those pipeline projects, which took strides but also faced hurdles this year, will add nearly 1,000 units of desperately needed housing to the city’s stock. The biggest of the projects, the 273-unit mixed-use Riverfront development off Hopper Street, hit a snag after breaking ground last year. Builder Comstock Homes in April shuttered its sales office and looked to offload the project to another developer. The company continued to build the roads and utilities for the development, but the year is ending without any new housing starts on the property."