A report from the Denver Post in Colorado. "For the first time in seven years, median home prices in metro Denver declined year-over-year, according to a monthly update from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. 'Buyers are getting more power and sellers are not loving it. But there is something for both sides to love. Sellers are still doing OK,' said Jill Schafer, chairwoman of the DMAR market trends committee."

"It appears the high for this real estate cycle was likely reached in April of last year for single-family homes at $455,000. For condos, the high came a month later at $306,331. Single-family prices are down 5.5 percent from that peak, while condo prices are down about 3 percent."

"Median prices fell month-over-month in the second half of last year, so the annual drop wasn’t completely unexpected. In January, the annual rate of change turned negative for Boulder, Douglas and Denver counties, according to a separate report from the Colorado Association of Realtors."

"But price gains in Adams, Arapahoe and other more affordable counties were strong enough to keep the year-over-year number positive. That isn’t the case anymore. Using median prices from REColorado, the last annual decline for single-family homes, 1.9 percent, came in October 2011. For condos, a 2.7 percent annual decline was recorded in February 2012, marking a turn in the market precisely seven years to the month."

"Buyers, however, seem reticent, despite the drop in mortgage rates in recent months and a 47.3 percent increase in the supply of properties on the market compared to what was available a year ago. It remains to be seen whether lower prices are the missing ingredient needed to bring them out."

The Wall Street Journal. "In roaring luxury markets from Manhattan to San Francisco over the past few years, buyers were a piteous bunch. Got a million dollars to spend? That’s nice. Want to make an offer? Get in line."

"Then, in the last quarter of 2018, statistics began to paint a picture of a slowing market: Redfin says there were nearly 4% fewer transactions nationwide for homes costing $2 million and up compared with the previous year. In Manhattan, closed sales declined by 3.3% and median prices fell by 5.8%, while in Los Angeles, transactions dropped 5.2%, according to a report for Douglas Elliman prepared by appraisal company Miller Samuel."

"Now agents’ tasks include bracing themselves to communicate outrageously low-ball offers to sellers. Here’s how the new normal is playing out in a couple of markets."

"Jim Kinney - Baird & Warner, Chicago: Since Jan. 1, our market is off 20% in sales volume and number of transactions compared to the year before. In the lower end of the market three years ago, anything under $800,000 would get 20 offers. No more."

"'A lot of our sellers are in denial. I had a seller the other day say to me, 'It’s OK, I can wait for the market to turn around.' He’s 89."

"A client had a condo in downtown Chicago that they could have gotten out of at $1.785 million two years ago, because that’s what I sold one across the hall for, to the first person who walked into it. But I had this condo on the market this fall at $1.595 million with no hope in sight. Then we had a buyer come in, relocating from the East Coast. They came in at a crazy low price, $1 million. My seller said, 'Let’s try to find a deal.'"

" The buyer finally agreed to $1.15 million, but with all the furniture—and he wanted the piano, a baby grand with satinwood inlay. The seller said no. So guess who bought a piano? I paid the seller $4,500 for it and I gave it to the buyer. I just closed on the deal."

"Robert Dankner - Prime Manhattan Residential, New York: 'Buyers started pounding their chests a bit as prices started to correct. The expectations are too extreme. This fall, I had a buyer who made absurd offers. For a $10.5 million downtown condo, they offered $8 million. I argued with them and said, 'This person wants to sell, but is not going to at a price that is just stupid.' The client said, 'Do it anyway.' We didn’t even get a response."

"I ended up firing the clients. I said, 'I can’t help, because you’re looking for something that doesn’t exist.' But they eventually came back to me, and now they’re in contract. They got something for around $12 million, down from the asking in the high $12 millions, that had been price-reduced from $14 million. They ended up getting a very good value."

The San Francisco Chronicle in California. "A San Francisco mansion with an arresting Tudor Revival facade continues to sit on the market without selling, despite a price reduction, a prime location with drop-dead views, and celebrity cache. Hollywood actor and house collector Nicolas Cage famously owned the home on the corner of Francisco and Hyde streets for a brief spell in the 2000s."

"Originally listed in 2017 for $12 million — and briefly taken off the market before returning in 2018 —the six-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bathroom home on Russian Hill's so-called Gold Coast at 898 Francisco St. is now on the market for $10.95 million."

"Listing agent Mark Levinson of Pacific Union says interest has grown in recent days as real estate activity picks up in March, but he admits the property, which has been largely left untouched since it was built in 1914 (except a slap-dash 1990s kitchen update), will require a special buyer who has both money and time."