A report from Mansion Global on California. "Realtors who spoke with Mansion Global in January reported a slump in sales and a decrease in median home values between Q4 2018 and Q1 2019, which they attributed in large part to the wildfires."

"Sonoma County has always been popular with affluent Bay Area residents looking for a weekend retreat from the city, but the number of sales dropped about 8% in 2018, closer to the volume last seen in 2010, according to Compass. Median house prices peaked in the middle of 2018 and then dropped off as the year wound down."

"'Nobody has to buy a second home, so if you’re going to put anything on hold, financially as far as a big investment, that’s what you’re going to put a hold on,' said Patrick Carlisle, chief market analyst for Compass."

"The gloomy combination has prompted a few 'unintended sales' this winter, said Jerel Taylor, president of the Malibu Association of Realtors. 'It’s been very daunting to people and that’s causing some people to sell their homes,' he said."

"Still, many other residents are loathe to sell their property for '50 cents on the dollar,' as Lea Johnson, an estate director for Sotheby’s and a long-time Malibu resident, put it. 'Right now, the market is very soft, and it will take a while to rebuild our market and rebuild our town and rebuild the burned out properties,' she said."

From Curbed Atlanta in Georgia. "By now, most real estate observers around Atlanta have heard the anecdotal horror stories: The choice Midtown condo that can’t move despite discounts. The $1-million Chastain estate that’s hearing crickets. The gorgeous Va-Hi bungalow nobody will touch for $800,000."

"Is it winter’s fault? Seller greed? Are rising interest rates, economic uncertainty, or political unrest to blame? Or is the homebuying and selling landscape not really as bad as some examples can make it seem?"

From Curbed Boston in Massachusetts. "The number of closed condo sales in downtown Boston declined 19.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, to 555, compared with the same period in 2017. The number of sales were also down 42.6 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter."

"Some neighborhoods saw particularly pronounced sales drops. In Beacon Hill, sales dropped 41.9 percent annually in the fourth quarter. In Charlestown, they we're off 25 percent; in Southie, 19.9 percent. Those yearly and quarterly sales drops in the fourth quarter were the most striking facet of the report. And it’s those drops that led to what Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman described as the highest fourth-quarter inventory of unsold condos in downtown Boston in five years."

From This Is Reno on Nevada. "According to Randy Roesch, with Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty’s Reno office, 'The higher end of the Reno market is much more balanced with certain top-tier price points even falling into a buyers market. Top-of-the-market buyers have plenty of inventory to choose from so sellers at this level need to price their homes competitively or be comfortable waiting to attract the right buyers,' says Roesch."

The Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota. "There was a time when a new house on the market was snatched up within hours of being put up for sale. But real estate agents and homeowners say that's not happening anymore. Many real estate agents in the Grand Forks area recalled the years between 2012 and 2016 as extremely busy. While agents may say this change is normal, for those struggling to sell a home it can be extremely frustrating."

"Mike Grossbauer's home was on the market for 15 months before it finally sold. 'Those were honestly the worst 15 months of my life,' Grossbauer said. 'One mortgage isn't fun, but having two mortgages held over your head?'"

"The housing market in Grand Forks has become more of a buyer's market, according to Ruth Ann Halvorson, the 2018 president of the Grand Forks Area Association of Realtors (GFAAR). A balance between buyers and sellers is preferable, Halvorson said. 'It could be considered 'bad' if one or the other has more power,' Halvorson said. 'This is definitely not a time to panic though.'"

"One cause of this change could be an increase in the number of homes built in the past couple of years, Halvorson said. Grossbauer said his agent told him Thomsen Homes had built so many homes in the same price range as his and it made selling his home more difficult. Coldwell Banker Real estate agent Phil Vanyo said an increase in the number of apartments on the south end of town also could have had an impact."

"'This may have led to some of this slowness. People might have been renting homes and now have the option for a brand new apartment building with a gym and a pool,' Vanyo said. 'I'm not saying we're over building, but we're certainly in a different time than we were a few years ago.'"

"Larry Hondl, an agent at Oxford Realty, said he has to explain the shift in the market to people selling their homes. Hondl said those selling their homes need patience. 'A lot of people were used to listing their house and it was gone in week and had two or three offers on it,' Hondl said."

"Hondl remembers 2016 as a 'crazy' year in terms of the volume of houses he sold. He also said he remembers experts saying it wasn't healthy for homes to be selling as quickly as they were. 'It was kind of an anomaly there were so many people looking at the same time,' Hondl said."