Fall arrived during August as far as real estate prices are concerned with the national median home list price slipping 1.8% from July to 309,000, according to Realtor.com.
Home shopping during summer and the motivation to move before the kids start school typically send home prices up and low mortgage interest rates also fueled the expectation that August would be busy as usual.
Worries that the country could be headed for another economic downturn is making many buyers think twice. Some are worried about their jobs, while others want to see if prices will fall. And since mortgage interest rates don't seem likely to rise significantly any time soon, there's no urgency. The lack of buyers has forced many sellers to resort to price cuts if they don't want to wait it out or to just pull their properties off the market.
