It’s slowing in other major markets Dallas (2), Denver (3), and others, although not as severely.
From my perspective as a recent home seller and a prospective home buyer, the turnaround is largely due to the increasing interest rates.
As a seller you suddenly don’t want to risk holding out for the best possible offer because you know the average person might not be able to afford as much soon, and even if that’s questionably accurate, the uncertainty makes you more willing to consider offers.
As a buyer, even a 50 basis points change (half a percent) has a significant effect on what you can afford especially if you’re going to be highly leveraged. You’d be surprised the number of people doing crazy things like 10/10/80 Jumbo loans to get in the market, even in tech.
From both the buyer and seller side there was an insane amount of demand just as rates started going up as people were pushing the limits to get in at the best rates. I suspect this pushed prices up sharply in early 2018, making the following slowdown as rates went up appear more severe than it otherwise would have.
In the Seattle area, taxes are also a minor factor; there’s recently been several significant hikes in property taxes that eat further into affordability - I’m not sure if that’s the case in other markets, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
1. https://seattlebubble.com/blog/2019/01/07/nwmls-home-price-g...
2. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-u-s-housing-boom-is-coming-...
3. https://www.denverpost.com/2018/12/26/home-price-increases-s...