The Seattle Times reports from Washington. "At the beginning of the year, local housing experts predicted the Puget Sound area's super-heated real-estate market would slow. What they couldn't predict was exactly when or how much. It's now, and the drop-off has been marked."

"After rising for seven consecutive months, King County's median single-family home price hasn't risen since June. In fact it declined $10,000 from August to September, to $425,000. Four months without an increase is a signal of a trend."

"Plus, inventory is building and homes are selling more slowly. The number of houses and condominiums for sale last month increased 42 percent in the 17 Washington counties in which the MLS tracks sales."

"Meanwhile, the number of pending sales, those signed but not closed, declined almost 19 percent compared with a year earlier. 'This doesn't mean that a 'bubble' has burst and property values are declining,' said Redmond appraiser Alan Pope. 'It means we're moving to a more-normal market where buyers have more choices. If buyers have more choices, they're less likely to pay in excess of the list price to obtain a property.'"

"'They're saying, 'Wait a minute — this is getting out of my comfort zone, and unless we have to buy or sell, let's just sit it out,' said (broker) Bill Riss, a real-estate veteran who has been through many housing cycles."

"Fewer sales and more homes to choose from are causing many more sellers to reduce prices, real-estate agents say. 'There's no doubt about it,' said Chris Pauling, president of Prudential Northwest Realty. 'There's more competition, and [sellers] are having to be more realistic in their expectations.'"

"Compared with a year earlier, September buyers had 32 percent more properties to choose from in King County — some 9,890 properties compared with 7,496 in September 2005. Snohomish buyers had 27.6 percent more, and Pierce County buyers had 54 percent more."

The Seattle PI. "Seattle's median home price in September was down from both July and August. It's the lowest year-to-year increase and the first time prices have dipped two months in a row since January 2004."

"But, the median does not account for people taking advantage of lower prices to buy nicer homes than they might have before, said Glenn Crellin, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University."

"Crellin's message for sellers? 'Don't panic. Yeah, it's going to take a while to sell a home,' he said."

"It's easy to find nice homes still on the market despite reductions in asking prices. At an open house in Greenwood last month, agent Deborah Arends was having a hard time understanding why the three-bedroom cottage was still on the market after six weeks and a price cut from $379,000 to $365,000. 'It should be gone because it's too cheap,' she said."

"Before putting an updated two-bedroom Capitol Hill bungalow on the market for $699,000 in May, agents Meredith Erickson and Anne Willoughby Nelson went through the usual exercise of comparing the prices of recently sold, comparable homes. Nelson noted two nearby homes that attracted multiple offers and sold in April for $700,000 or more."

"In August, Erickson and Nelson dropped their asking price to $679,000. Nelson agreed the slowing market might be making buyers choosier. During peak times in the market, buyers might have set aside qualms about the floor plan and jumped at the place, she said. 'Maybe that sense of total urgency has lessened a little bit.'"

"Realtors also say stories about the slowing market, particularly nationally, have some holding off. 'They're just nervous,' said (realtor) Jill Allen. 'They want to feel like they're getting some sort of a deal.'"

The News Tribune. "The number of houses for sale continue to go up in Pierce County. The county measured 2,116 new listings in September, for a total of 6,341 homes on the market. That’s a 54 percent increase in the number of active listings compared to this time last year."

"The number of pending sales has dropped 25 percent compared to last year’s record pace. Sellers might be frustrated by the length of time their homes are spending on the market, and some are now offering buyer incentives, said Dick Beeson, broker in Tacoma."

"Brokers added 12,656 listings in Western Washington during September. September finished with 34,443 total listings regionally, up more than 41 percent from a year ago."

"Mike Larson, a Northwest MLS director and broker in Tacoma, said he was 'a bit concerned' about the condo market, particularly in downtown Tacoma, 'where they seem to be going up everywhere.'"