The New York Times reports on the buyer/seller face-off. "Along much of the East and West Coasts, home buyers and home sellers are engaged in a stare-down. Many buyers, having heard that the real estate market is a bubble in danger of popping, are refusing to offer the asking price on a house, convinced that it will soon drop. But many sellers are not blinking either, thinking that offers will improve when the weather does and biding their time until then."

"Sometime soon, probably in the spring, the peak sales season, one side or the other will have to capitulate, many economists and industry executives predict. 'In my opinion, the jury on housing is still out,' said Antonio B. Mon, chief executive of a home builder. 'The period from now until May will tell the tale.'"

"In Manhattan, 42 percent more co-ops and condominiums were available for sale at the end of last month than was the case a year ago, according to Miller Samuel, an appraisal company in New York. More Manhattan apartments were on the market in late February than at any point in at least five years."

"Builders of new homes have also offered bonuses to buyers. So the builders have been able to continue selling homes without cutting the list prices. But many houses in the Northeast, Florida and California are, in fact, selling for less than they would have six months ago. In parts of the Northeast, the drop has been about 5 percent, estimated Robert I. Toll. Other sellers have cut their price and still not found a buyer."

"In Buxton, Me., a suburb of Portland, Geof and Cheri Toner put their three-bedroom Cape Cod-style house on the market for $379,900 late last year, shortly before moving to Raleigh, N.C., for Mr. Toner's job. They have received only one offer, for $350,000, which they rejected, and recently reduced the price to $374,900."

"Mr. Toner expects that the eventual buyer will be a transplant from elsewhere in New England who is willing to pay significantly more than $350,000. 'We're not panicking over it,' said Mr. Toner. 'It's just a matter of sitting it out and seeing what happens.'"

"Many real estate agents argue that people like the Toners are doing the right thing and that the market will not slump as it did a decade ago. The current slowdown is simply a transition, the agents say. 'All we are seeing is a pregnant pause,' said Richard A. Smith, 'a disconnect between sellers and buyers.'"

"But many buyers say they have a sense that the long boom has finally come to an end. In the San Jose, Calif., Sathish Pottavathini said he was taking his time with the search for a new home and trying to find a good deal. 'I don't want to rush into things especially in this kind of situation,' Mr. Pottavathini said, 'where you hear about a slowing down everywhere.'"

"He and his wife, Madhuri, spend $1,200 a month renting an 800-square-foot two-bedroom apartment. They would like to find a three-bedroom town house with a two-car garage for less than $500,000. Although he does not expect prices to fall significantly, he does not think they will rise either. Now, Mr. Pottavathini said, 'If I wait, I might get a better place.'"

"Buyers who showed similar patience in the early 1990's were rewarded. From the summer of 1989 to the summer of 1990, the number of homes for sale rose about 10 percent. At first, many sellers refused to accept lower offers, thinking that they would get their asking price or close to it. But they eventually had to unload their houses, and in the Northeast and California that often meant reducing the price. In the Los Angeles area, the median sale price of existing houses fell 22 percent from 1992 to 1996, before taking inflation into account."

"If a similar slowdown were to happen again, Mr. Toner said he would consider changing his mind and his asking price. 'At some point, if this were to become protracted, I would consider lowering the price to attract a buyer,' he said."