A report from CNBC. "Mortgage rates are around the lowest in three years, but buyers are suddenly much more cautious about purchasing a home. Competition is cooling, and consequently sellers can no longer command any price. At an open house in Dallas on Sunday, a few dozen potential buyers toured a home listed at just under $1.4 million. The agent for the home said the market is still moving, but buyers are getting more picky."

"'I definitely think it has softened a bit,' said Kelley McMahon a Dallas-area agent with Compass. 'It’s not a seller’s market right now. Now is not the time for sellers to put out these crazy prices. Appraisals have gotten a lot harder, and buyers are a little more cautious. They’re more willing to take their time.'"

"Just more than 10% of offers written by Redfin in August faced a bidding war, according to the brokerage’s monthly survey. That is down from 42% a year ago. 'Despite remaining near three-year lows, mortgage rates have failed to bring enough buyers to the market to rev up competition for homes this summer,' said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin."

"Dustin Collins and his wife toured the Dallas property while carrying their new baby. They are watching interest rates closely but don’t feel the pressure to move quickly, the way so many buyers did last year. 'For us, knowing that that kind of the frenzy is over, it’s more about finding the right house for us than paying too much for it,' Dustin said. I feel like now houses are sitting a little longer, it just gives us a little more opportunity to find the house we want.'"

The Houston Chronicle in Texas. "One of the most expensive home listings in Houston just got a little more affordable. Located at 6 West Rivercrest is a picturesque, 21,032-square-foot estate that more closely resembles a resort than a residential structure. It's been on the market for more than a year now, originally priced at $18.99 million. It's now being marketed for $14.5 million, that's a price reduction of nearly $4.5 million."

From Variety on California. "Last year, amid a deluge of publicity, an ultra-contemporary mansion in the posh seaside town of La Jolla, Calif. was listed for sale at $30 million. After a significant pricechop and a change of realtors, the architecturally significant property sold last week for $20.8 million."

The Orange County Register in California. "From those humble beginnings, the business grew into a real estate empire spanning Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties. In June, the Tarbell line came to an end when four Berkshire Hathaway franchises acquired the chain’s remaining 20 offices, 1,000 agents and an escrow company. The brokerage is one of at least three Southern California real estate chains to close or sell in the past year, and more shifts are likely as residential brokerages 'go through a fundamental restructuring at its core,' one industry analyst said."

"Diane Wheatley, a broker hired in July 2017 to manage Tarbell’s Ontario office, said a majority of Tarbell’s offices were losing money by the time she came on board. 'My office, in particular, would lose $15,000 to $20,000 a month. … I know other offices were losing money like that as well,' Wheatley said."

"Whatever the case, real estate brokers everywhere are facing mounting pressures as new business models develop. Last June, the Century21 and Coldwell Banker Beachside chain shut down. In May, Realty One Group sold its seven Southern California real estate offices to concentrate on creating a franchise operation."

The Tri-City Herald on Washington. "Buyers who missed the chance to buy Olie the Goalie’s estate six years ago are getting a second shot at one of the Mid-Columbia’s most lavish homes. The 15,260-square-foot mansion with sweeping views of the Horse Heaven Hills is back on the market. The estate hit Realtor.com this week with an asking price of nearly $6.3 million."

"Olie Kolzig and his wife, built the house in 2004, intending to make it their 'forever' home. The 'house that hockey built' is going on the auction block Oct. 5. DeCaro Auctions will sell the property to the highest bidder with no minimum price. The Kolzigs listed the estate in 2011 for $4.1 million. Bellevue-based brokers touted it as a wine country retreat and even attracted the attention of Puget Sound media. Despite the high-profile marketing campaign, it took two years and a major price cut to sell the property."

"A trust connected to local car dealer Russ and Jan Dean paid $2.3 million in 2013. Washington Hillside, a property management firm, oversees it. Kolzig explained the price drop in a 2012 interview with the Tri-City Herald. 'We are losing money on it, but we know we overbuilt for the area,' he said at the time."

The Auburn Examiner in Washington. "A small, but monumental change is going into effect on October 1, 2019: Real estate firms representing sellers will now be publishing the commission the seller is offering to pay a broker representing the buyer in the listing information and online."

"There’s going to be downward pressure on the commission paid to buyers’ agents. Can we all agree on that? But given this, if today’s median house price is what it is because it’s assuming a 3% buyer agent commission if the average commission paid to buyers’ agents fall, then there will be that much downward pressure on Puget Sound’s median house price.  Said another way: If the average commission to buyers’ agents goes to 2% from 3%, then sellers will only need to markup their sale price by 2% versus 3%, thus putting downward pressure on the area’s median house price. Not a lot, but a little."

"However, if the situation arises where a seller doesn’t want to pay the buyer’s agent, the buyer will now not only have to pay their down payment, their closing costs, their prepaid taxes, and homeowners insurance but also their agent’s commission. This can be quite a bit of additional money. Given that this scenario will eat into the buyer’s purchasing power."

"There will be a few sellers who do, and that will put further downward pressure on median house prices overall. This will happen since once that house sells at a theoretically 3% lower price, it becomes a comp for other houses in the neighborhood. Going one step further, if that other house in the neighborhood is offering to pay the buyer’s agent commission, the door is now open to low appraisals since there is an inherent 3% difference in the sale price for what could be the exact same home."