A report from the Union Tribune in California. "San Diego County’s median home price ended the year at $550,000, one of its lowest points of 2018, CoreLogic reported. The median price for a resale home was $595,000, dipping from the all-time high reached in June and July of $630,000. 'The market did an about-face in August. Come Aug. 15, it seemed like everybody came together and said, 'These prices are too high and these interest rates are too high,' said Gary Kent, a La Jolla-based real estate agent. 'It was like whiplash. Like, what just happened?'"

"All types of housing saw sales decrease. The resale single-family home market had 1,673 sales in December — its lowest since 2007 when 1,074 homes sold. There were 701 resale condo sales, down to its lowest level since 521 sales in December 2007. The median price was $405,000, down from the record $432,000 reached in July. Sales for newly built homes hit a record low in December with 268 sales, the lowest ever recorded by CoreLogic for that month since the company began studying the market in 1988."

The Orange County Register. "Southern California home sales fell for a fifth consecutive month in December, dropping 20.3 percent year over year as the once-hot 2018 housing market cooled considerably, CoreLogic reported. Area agents say multiple offers have all but vanished, price cuts are rampant and homes are taking longer to sell than in years past when a hot seller’s market gripped the region."

"'I started seeing things slow down,' said Noel Palmieri, a Century 21 agent based in the San Gabriel Valley. 'We weren’t getting the showings like we were. Things weren’t flying off the shelf the way they were.'"

The Los Angeles Times. "The housing market’s chill grew colder in December, as sales plunged across Southern California and home prices barely rose. 'The affordability issue,' said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Assn. of Realtors, 'is finally taking its toll. The market is going to settle out. You are seeing a big pause.'"

"As sales decline, inventory is swelling, further limiting the ability of sellers to command top dollar. Last month in L.A. County, the number of homes for sale rose 22% from a year earlier, while in Orange County, listings surged 30%, according to Redfin."

From Curbed Los Angeles. "For Los Angeles’s real estate market, 2018 ended with barely a whimper. Just 5,291 homes sold in December, representing a 20 percent drop since the same time last year, according to CoreLogic. The county’s median sale price—$581,500—was slightly higher than in December of last year, but down 3.1 percent since November. It was also more than 5 percent below levels reached in August, when LA’s median sale price of $615,000 tied an all-time record."

From My News LA. "'Last month’s sharp drop in home sales stands out in several ways,' said Andrew LePage, research analyst with CoreLogic. 'The number of homes sold was the lowest for any December in 11 years, since the onset of the last housing downturn in 2007. Sales fell about 8 percent between last November and December, whereas they normally rise significantly between those months.'"

"'Additionally, the 20 percent annual decline in December sales was the largest for any month in more than eight years. This drop in activity reflects a variety of factors. Mortgage rates hit a 2018 high in November, affecting December closings, and stock-market volatility created an additional headwind in high-end markets. Meanwhile, some would-be buyers remain priced out or unwilling to buy amid concerns that prices have overshot a sustainable level.'"

The Ventura County Star. "Both median sale prices and the number of homes sold dropped throughout Southern California from November to December, according to CoreLogic. The report cited 15,781 home sales in Southern California, an 8.2 percent decrease from November’s 17,192 home sales. The region’s lower median price — December’s $515,000 median price was 1.5 percent lower than November’s $523,000 median price — was not enough to boost sales."

"Since 1988, the average change in sales between November and December is an increase of 12.3 percent, according to the CoreLogic report. It noted that December sales have ranged from a low of 13,240 in 2007, to a high of 36,865 in 2003. December 2018 sales were 32.7 percent below the December average of 23,445. The last time sales were so low in the region was around when the U.S. housing bubble burst, according to CoreLogic research analyst Andrew LePage."