The New York Times reports on the 'chill' in home buying. "Many Americans who planned on real estate as their path to wealth are beginning to find that there are limits to how high is up. As higher interest rates dampen demand, sellers are grudgingly lowering their prices to drum up interest."

"A house at 57 Marina Boulevard in San Rafael, across the bay from San Francisco, was originally listed at $1.45 million. The owner recently dropped the price to $949,000 when a competing house on the same street lowered its price to $959,000, from $989,000."

"In Marin County, the prices of about a quarter of all listings have been reduced. County records show that 57 Marina Boulevard was sold in February for $700,000, so the owner, Dan Marr, is unlikely to lose money even at the lower price. 'I don't want to talk about it,' he said."

"Nearly a year after the sales of homes peaked, buyers are wresting control from sellers in many areas as inventories of unsold homes have grown, in some markets doubling. The most widely used statistic to measure home values, the median home price, shows that once-hot markets like San Mateo, Calif., and Mercer County, N.J., are now registering year-over-year declines."

"'It's going from a seller's market to a buyer's market,' said David Lereah, the chief economist for the NAR. In March, 'price appreciation went down to 7.4 percent, from over 10 percent,' he added. 'That most probably reflects that sellers are bringing their prices down.'"

"ZipRealty has found widespread price reductions in the MLS's used by all agents to advertise homes. Prices have been trimmed on 35.7 percent of all homes currently listed for sale in the Boston area, for example. The same is true for homes in San Diego, Sacramento, Los Angeles and Miami. And prices have been snipped on a quarter of the homes in Chicago, Washington and Baltimore."

"In Silicon Valley, (realtor) Richard Calhoun said that the number of homes sold was now 85 percent of the 25-year average. A year ago, it was 30 percent above that average. In Santa Cruz, inventories have tripled. A result is that the median price of homes in San Mateo County dropped 2.7 percent, to $875,000, in March, from $899,000 a year earlier."

"Elsewhere you can smell the anxiety. The listing agent for a four-bedroom home on Scripps Trail in San Diego informed other agents in the MLS that a 'very, very motivated seller will entertain all reasonable offers' and 'will help with closing costs.' The house was listed in September at $810,000. After a previous price cut, the seller is now willing to entertain offers as low as $685,000."

"The seller bought the house for $730,000 in 2005, according to county property records, for what the listing agent said were investment purposes."

"Robin L. McCarthy, a real estate agent who works in Princeton, N.J., said homes were sitting on the market three to four months, when houses sold in as little as a few days a year ago. Houses that would have been the subject of intense bidding wars now sell for slightly less than asking price."

"'Buyers are afraid that real estate prices are going to go down, so they are very careful,' Ms. McCarthy said. 'They don't want to pay too much.'"