A report from the Los Angeles Times in California. "After nearly seven years of sometimes fevered price hikes, the Southern California housing market has slowed markedly in recent months. A belief that the price slowdown will lead to a price drop could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, experts said. 'It’s a feedback loop,' said Yale University professor Robert J. Shiller. 'Excitement can’t last forever — and that’s what drives a boom.'"

"'There has been this anticipation of another 2008' among some home shoppers, said Mark Cianciulli, a Los Angeles real estate agent. 'They are expecting that to happen again, or they are at least suspecting a less severe version.'"

"'We don’t have a debt problem. We don’t have an overbuilding problem. We don’t have an economic problem — prices are not going to fall,' said Christopher Thornberg, founding partner of Beacon Economics, who called last decade’s housing crash."

From Mansion Global on California. "Buyers in the typically ferocious San Francisco Bay Area real estate market looked decidedly less enthusiastic in December, as sales dropped despite more discounts, according to Compass. The median home price in December in the Bay Area was $860,000, a 2% decline from the same time in 2017."

"Housing stock rose 31% across the entire Bay Area, led by homes priced below $1 million, which logged a 35% increase in stock in the year to December. The inventory of homes between $1 million and $2 million saw inventory levels rise 37%, according to the data. On a county level, Santa Clara County logged the largest inventory increase in the Bay Area (66%)."

"In December, Bay Area homes sold in an average of 28 days, almost two weeks longer than at the same time last year. In response, sellers reduced asking prices to lure buyers. Across the Bay Area, the share of price reductions doubled, increasing to 33% in December 2018, from 15% a year earlier, the report said."

The Wall Street Journal on Texas. "Young professionals and families are discovering the charms of Fort Worth. Professionals coming from pricey cities outside of Texas are looking for larger luxury homes with a 'yard for their dog,' says real-estate agent Martha Williams."

"But the market is cooling. With more inventory recently, 'the prices are softening a bit, especially in the high-end market,' Ms. Williams says."

The American Statesman in Texas. "The Austin-area housing market, on a roll for years, is in store for another solid year, though there could be some bumps not seen in a decade. That’s the forecast by Eldon Rude, a local housing industry expert."

"Last year, the median home price was $318,200 and the median family income was $91,862, he said. Dividing those numbers yields a multiplier of 3.5; in the 15 years from 1995 to 2010, the multiplier was between 2.3 and 2.5. With escalating home prices, 'it’s becoming more and more difficult for people to afford to buy a home,' Rude said. 'And it puts us at a greater risk for prices declining during the next downturn.'"

"Rude noted that the disparity between incomes and home prices in the Austin market is still well below some other cities with major tech hubs, such as Denver, Seattle, San Francisco and San Jose. 'The same thing is happening here, we just haven’t gotten to the point those markets have,' Rude said."

From Crain's Chicago Business in Illinois. "Sales of Chicago-area homes at $1 million and up grew far more moderately last year than in the boom year that preceded it, according to a new report. For people who are downsizing at empty-nest time or moving into the Chicago market from another region, 'if they don't think they'll be in this home for more than five years, they don't want to buy,' said Janice Corley, who owns Re/Max Premier in the Gold Coast. 'Nobody buys real estate to break even.'"

The Press Herald on Maine. "Maine’s red-hot real estate landscape will likely cool in 2019. In some cases, Maine developers have decided to postpone or scrap their planned projects because the cost of construction was deemed too expensive, said Roxane Cole, commercial broker at Roxane Cole Commercial Real Estate LLC. 'Some people are saying, ‘I’m just not going to do it,' Cole said."

"Brit Vitalius, president of the Southern Maine Landlord Association, said rising interest rates coupled with escalating prices have squeezed returns for some investors in the multifamily housing market and prompted them to take a breath. Certain parts of the sector had been seeing 20 percent year-over-year growth in sale prices."

"'There’s still a lot of money and a lot of activity in the market, but the numbers are starting not to make sense,' Vitalius said. 'I’d say things are beginning to settle, and that’s a good thing.'"

From Westfair Online on Connecticut. "The average sales price in Fairfield County for all residential properties during the fourth quarter was $592,933, down from $659,259 in he third quarter and down from $696,086 one year earlier. The median sales price of $375,000 was below the third quarter’s $425,000 and the $390,000 price from the fourth quarter of 2017."

"The number of closed sales for the fourth quarter totaled 2,632, a drop from the 3,339 sales in the third quarter and the 2,743 from the previous year. The average number of days on market totaled 113 in the fourth quarter, compared to 82 in the third quarter and 129 in the fourth quarter of 2017. Listing inventory in the fourth quarter totaled 4,172, down from 5,535 in the previous quarter but up from 3,839 in the previous year."

"The average sales price for a single-family Fairfield County home in the fourth quarter was $677,398, a drop from $763,162 in the third quarter. The average during the fourth quarter of 2017 was $810,272. The median single-family sales price in the fourth quarter was $420,000, down from the $500,000 in the previous quarter and the $457,000 price from one year earlier."

"In the county’s luxury market, the average fourth-quarter sales price was $2.3 million, a slide from the $2.39 million in the third quarter and the $2.98 million price from one year earlier. The median sales price of $1.8 million was under the $1.9 million level from the third quarter and the $2.2 million level one year earlier."