A report from the Marysville Globe in Washington. "Have you noticed? It’s not such an insane, over-the-top real estate market anymore. The thought of I’ll just throw a for sale sign in my front yard on Thursday and have a crowd of crazed buyers offering $15,000 to $25,000 over my asking price is nearly over. A shift in our real estate market is taking place. Many sellers are searching to understand the term 'Price Reduction' as they are unaccustomed to hearing that horrible word spoken to them by their real estate broker. We have seen a record number of price reductions over the last two months."

"Enthusiastic sellers who overpriced their homes in May and June are sitting in their homes scratching their heads saying, 'My broker said there would be multiple offers.' Those sellers and today’s sellers need of a major dose of reality, and the days of multiple offers are days of the past."

From Northwest MLS on Washington. "House-hunters in Western Washington can choose from the largest supply of homes in three years, and they are facing fewer bidding wars, according to officials from Northwest Multiple Listing Service. New statistics from the MLS show prices appear to be moderating (up about 6.7 percent overall), but brokers say they are not bracing for a bubble, or even anticipating a quick shift to a buyers' market."

"In Clark County, inventory doubled from a year ago to lead the list based on percentage gains. King County was runner-up with a 74.3 percent increase, rising from 3,329 active listings a year ago to 5,803 at the end of August. A slower pace of sales also contributed to the boost in supply. 'The Puget Sound residential housing market remains positive, though the market has transitioned from a frenzied state to one of strong sales activity,' remarked J. Lennox Scott, CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate."

"George Moorhead, designated broker at Bentley Properties, commented on buyers 'still sitting on the sidelines despite clear indicators.' He believes, 'This is the best time in three years to be aggressive in the marketplace' given rising inventory, a significant increase in the number of cancelled and expired listings, and more incentives being offered by builders. 'We are now seeing price reductions in new home communities as builders try to move inventory of completed homes,' he noted."

"With more homes on the market in the tri-county area, growth of home prices has slowed, noted OB Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate. 'Buyers are under less pressure to bid on any home that comes on the market,' he remarked. 'Despite what some of the headlines may read, this is no cause for panic; in fact, it's good news because it's an indication that we are moving closer to a more balanced market,' he suggested."

"'The real estate sky isn't falling,' said Dick Beeson, who acknowledged the 'huge increase in inventory the past few months speaks volumes about the anxiety levels sellers have as they try to get all they can before the market crashes, which it won't. The Northwest still has the best economy in America,' Beeson emphasized."

"Why the run-up in listings?, Beeson asked rhetorically. Sellers have read about exorbitant prices and the need for inventory, he explained, adding 'I guess we should have schooled them a bit about a phasing in process and not to bunch up at the listing house door.' Several brokers commented on the importance of realistic pricing. 'You can't underprice a home in today's market, but you can overprice it,' Beeson stated."

The Gloucester Times in Massachusetts. "The bidding dual over the Brightside condo highlighted an auction that brought in $139,500 for the city's coffers – far less than the $300,000 initially raised at a similar auction last year, but one that disposed of five of the six properties on the block. 'Some of the properties maybe weren't as sexy as some of the ones last year,' said auctioneer Paul Zekos, whose Zekos Group LLC of Shrewsbury has run the city's recent tax auctions. 'But we did sell all but one of the properties – and five out of six isn't bad.'"

"Two of the vacant-land properties sold at last year's auction ultimately wound up back on the block Thursday after last year's bidders defaulted on closing, Zekos had said. 'There really is no goal for these types of things,' said city treasurer and collector John Dunn. 'They get what they can get, and we go from there.'"

"The biggest drop in potential sales revenue Thursday may have come when the only property aside from the Brightside condo with a house on it failed to draw any bids at all, even as Zekos lowered the minimum bidding on the 58 Hill Top Road site from an initial $100,000 to $30,000. The property is assessed by the city at $214,800."

"Another property, at 72 Witham St., sits virtually across Thatcher Road from the main Good Harbor Beach parking lot, and includes just .35 acres, complete with wetlands. So after getting no bids at $30,000, Zekos dropped the bidding to $10,000 – and still initially got nothing. But Janet Muzzy, seated toward the back of the hall, shouted out $2,500, then agreed to raise her bid to $5,000 after Zokos and Dunn conferred over a minimum bid they intially set at $5,600. Dunn agreed to accept the bid. 'You drive a hard bargain,' Zekos told her."

The Star Press in Indiana. "Many readers will be unfamiliar with Indiana’s housing glut, which the U.S. Census reports are more than 300,000 excess homes. This is partly because few community leaders and even fewer Realtors wish to talk about this chronic problem. I’ll explain by beginning with a Muncie example that is applicable to much of the state."

"Shortly after my recent article on the urgent need to preserve middle-class neighborhoods, a Realtor replied to my column. He took exception with my inference that there was an excess supply of homes in the greater Muncie region. Citing local real estate data listing of only 392 homes for sale in Delaware County, he argued that there was an acute housing shortage. He could not have been more wrong."

"That same week the local paper listed the county sheriff’s sale of some 1,300 homes, a modest share of the annual listing of abandoned homes in the county. Worse still, the most recent Census data reported more than 5,100 vacant homes in Muncie alone, with more than 1,000 more across the rest of the county."

"In any market, excess supply causes prices to drop, and Muncie is a prime example. Across three city council districts comprising 14,600 homes, the average tax assessment is less than $45,000 per home. My research with Professor Dagney Faulk indicates that homes priced in this range are over-assessed by 62 percent to 156 percent. That means when these homes do sell, they are changing hands at a fraction of their assessed value, or about the price of a decent used car."

"The cause of this is clear. The Census reports that Muncie has lost close to one in six families since the early ‘70s and one out of every 50 families since 2010. This means thousands of excess homes that suppress prices across the county and beyond. The realtor who criticized my data on excess homes, or rather criticized the Census count of excess homes, claimed there was abundant demand for homes priced in the $250,000 range. That is unalloyed nonsense."

"Every Realtor can tell stories of families visiting their community who are dissatisfied with the choices. I shouldn’t have to write this, but the presence of a buyer willing to pay $250,000 for a home that cost well more than $300,000 to build ain’t evidence of demand for new housing."