A report from KSBY in California. "If you live in Santa Maria, you may have noticed more homes for sale in your neighborhood. There may have been a lot of price reductions, too. One local realtor says the market is getting ready to make a big switch. 'We start seeing it shifting from a sellers' market now to an actual buyers' market,' said Vatche Maestas, a real estate agent with Keller Williams. 'We are not seeing the rapid price increases now. A year ago, we could put a house the market on one month, and the following months it could go up by $10,000. We aren't seeing that. Right now, we are seeing more price reductions.'"

"And according to agents, new homes are selling quickly. The challenge is the older, higher-priced homes, which are stalling out. 'Save me some money,' said Mike Alexander, a home buyer and Orcutt resident. 'We've waited a while, so were looking forward to it. The only question we have is, 'Do we wait longer and get a better deal? Right now, I'm seeing more and more property coming available.'"

The Marin Independent Journal. "The median price of a Marin home was almost $1.1 million last month, up 14 percent from the previous August, according to CoreLogic. In contrast, prices in San Francisco edged up a mere 1 percent this August compared with August 2015. Price jumps and drops in the Bay Area generally begin with San Francisco and radiate throughout the area. 'The rate of increase in appreciation is starting to level off,' said Peter Nielsen, an agent with Marin Realty Experts. 'The upper range is softening. Also, I’m seeing price decreases once in a while.'"

"Nielsen said the decreases are probably 'more a case of someone operating under the assumption that the appreciation is skyrocketing and they are trying to hit that next level.' Instead, Nielsen said, 'it may be time for sellers to take a more realistic look at their pricing and not keep trying to break the record.'"

The Orange County Register. "California’s housing market will post modest gains next year amid tight supplies and the lowest housing affordability in six years, the California Association of Realtors forecast Thursday. Home sales are leveling off. Prices are rising more slowly. And even with mortgage rates near all-time lows, the California housing market is making a lackluster recovery from the Great Recession, said Realtor Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young."

"'I think we’re getting close to the peak of the market, but we haven’t really had a stellar recovery either,' Appleton-Young said in an online news conference. 'What you’re seeing in the California housing market is not what I would consider robust activity.'"

"Even though the market is approaching its peak, she said, it’s not edging toward a crash – barring a major catastrophe like sudden mortgage rate hikes or a stock market meltdown. 'It’s really going to be more of a slow squeeze than a big drop,' Appleton-Young said. 'We’re living that right now.'"