A report from Connect FM. "Thinking about buying a home? Bess Freedman, CEO of Brown Harris Stevens, a realty company in New York, says, 'We are definitely in a buyer’s market… very price sensitive, perhaps the most price sensitive market we’ve seen.' Freedman says this the main reason why: 'There’s a little bit of an oversupply in some areas, and they can really pick up some good opportunities.'"

"Although there seems to be an oversupply in mostly metropolitan areas, it could also be the case for some suburban locations too."

From Mansion Global. "The price of a waterfront Southampton, New York, home was slashed by $5 million Monday, bringing it down to $24.9 million. The Hamptons estate, however, is no stranger to price cuts. Mansion Global previously reported that it once asked $65 million, and since then, the asking price has been reduced several times."

The Long Beach Business Journal in California. "The median price of a detached single-family home in Long Beach was $605,000 in January, a 1.6% decrease from December, according to Phil Jones, broker and owner of Coldwell Banker Coastal Alliance. There was a 41% increase in the inventory of homes on the market compared to January 2018, he said."

"'Pending sales were down 46% in January. Closed sales were down 9.2% . . . compared to last January. And the same number of listings came on the market. But the supply improved because the rate of sales activity decreased,' he explained."

"Phillip Mazzocco, co-owner and operating principal of First Team Real Estate in Bixby Knolls, said that 'there has been a softening' in the single-family market so far in 2019, but that he does not expect the trend to continue. '[When] the Fed didn’t raise interest rates, it kind of opened some things up,' he said. 'We’ll still see some growth in kind of the $500,000 to $900,000 range, but everything over $1 million has really stalled out. '"

"Mazzocco said that housing markets in neighboring cities and counties experienced more dramatic slowdowns in activity in recent months, but that Long Beach has retained its appeal to homebuyers. 'I know [in] range County there was a big softening this winter. But you know, we didn’t feel it as intensely as they did. And I think it’s kind of because we’re the new kid on the block,' Mazzocco said."

"Both Jones and Mazzocco characterized the current single-family market in Long Beach as healthy. 'The market is shifting from a really seller-advantaged market to more balanced. I think buyers are getting some of their advantages back,' Jones said. 'As inventory grows, it will become even more balanced between buyers and sellers.'"

" Mazzocco noted that fluctuations in the real estate market are historically normal. 'I don’t think anyone in our industry is really worried about a big recession. There is just a normalization of the market,' he said. 'We’re in a very healthy market. . . . It’s very normal, what’s happening right now.'"