A report from the Denver Post in Colorado. "For at least five years, until last summer, home sellers had a firm upper hand in metro Denver, but the power dynamic is shifting. One sign of that — more sellers are having to accept offers below their original price. 'If you aren’t getting offers in the first two weeks, time to make a price adjustment,' said Jill Schafer, chairwoman of the market trends committee at the Denver Metro Association of Realtors."

"The seller advantage has deteriorated rapidly. Zillow reports that only 23 percent of homes sold in metro Denver in November went for above the list price and by December, only 20 percent did so. That’s happening nationally as well, but not to the degree seen in once-hot markets like Denver."

"List prices are usually based on the prior six months of sales or comparables. When the market is softening, sellers can find themselves with outdated information. And there are those pesky emotions: like the denial that the market has peaked, or the pride of wanting to make more than the neighbor who sold last spring, or plain old greed."

"'What a seller wants is the highest dollar at the end of the day. If you went in there with a realistic idea of where that property will trade, you might lose a listing,' said Jason Shepherd, a managing broker with Atlas Real Estate Group in Denver."

"Whether from online valuation services or sycophantic agents, sellers want information that confirms the bias they already have toward going with a higher price. 'Be aware that there are people who will promise you the world,' Shepherd said. 'We try to be very cognizant of not overpromising and underdelivering.'"

The Walton Sun in Florida. "Florida’s housing market reported higher median prices and increased inventory (active listings) in December compared to a year ago, according to Florida Realtors. Sales of single-family homes statewide totaled 20,633 last month, down 9.9 percent compared to December 2017."

"'Statewide, active listings of existing single-family homes have been on the rise since July, which has helped contribute to the softening of price growth, and they continued to climb in December,' said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor. 'At year’s end, inventory was up over 13 percent compared to the end of 2017. Importantly, inventory levels are now rising across most of the pricing spectrum, including in some of the more affordable ranges.'"

The Record Courier on Ohio. "'The market always has highs and lows; it’s always a roller coaster ride,' said Cindy Le-Mon, a RE/MAX agent active in and around Portage County. 'I kind of felt like we would have made an adjustment before now. I’m really surprised by the long run we’ve had with a really good market.'"

"Cindy Mustafa, who leads the Mustafa team with Keller Willams Chervenic Realty, said the overall market felt like it hit a high-water mark both locally and nationally in 2018. '2018 was a peak year,' she said. 'Everyone is looking at a softening of the market.'"

"Mustafa said some of the houses she sold spent virtually no time on the market. Things seem to be changing now, though. 'Now, starting in November and December, I’ve noticed there are price drops; there are more open houses,' she said, meaning more houses are staying on the market a bit longer."

From Seattle PI in Washington. "Seattle condo sellers and buyers started off 2019 with gusto as sales activity outpaced January 2018 levels. The one blip, unless you’re a buyer, was the dip in the Seattle citywide condo median sales price to $470,000, reflecting a 1.16% year-over-year and 6.0% one-month decrease, respectively."

"Anecdotally, one trend was the movement of condos that had been sitting on the market well over 100 days (nearly half of the pendings) finally found new owners, at lower prices. That’s good, since new Seattle condo listings increased 221.6% over last January to 431 units."

From Fox Business. "Rising home prices in California are weakening housing demand in the state, recent data shows, which could spell more trouble for residents already in the midst of an affordability crisis. While demand for home mortgage applications in California grew during the early months of 2018, beginning in May there was a pullback through the end of the year – with the sharpest declines occurring during the final two months, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association."

"Applications for home purchase loans fell nearly 20 percent in November and December. According to a recent poll conducted by Quinnipiac University, 43 percent of residents said they can’t afford to live in California – a trend that was even more pronounced among younger inhabitants (61 percent)."

"The problem is specifically prominent in some regions – like the Bay Area – where it would take a family earning median income 22 years to save up for a 20 percent down payment (the median home price in Silicon Valley is $1.2 million)."

"California wasn’t the only large state that saw a precipitous drop in home purchase applications – Florida and Texas also experienced similar – though less pronounced – trends. However, the news isn’t all bad for California homebuyers. Home prices appear to be moderating in the state – a sign inventory could be increasing."

From Crain's Chicago Business in Illinois. "The two-flat in Park Manor where Al Capone, his wife, his mother and his sister lived in the 1920s, which the most recent owner lost in foreclosure in 2018, is coming on the market Feb. 9. The asking price is $109,900, said Ryan Smith, the agent representing the two-flat, which stands on the equivalent of 2.8 standard Chicago 25-by-125-foot lots in a neighborhood of mostly bungalows and two-flats."

"Smith declined to identify the seller, but Cook County property records show that MTGLQ Investors, a distressed-property subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, received the title to the property in a court-ordered sale in November. The homeowner who lost the property in that judicial sale, the end result of a foreclosure action that a lender began in 2013, had the property on the market at various times between 2009 and 2016. Her price started at $450,000 and dropped to $179,900."