price reductions are seasonal in real estate. Peak new listings are around Super Bowl Sunday and Labor Day. There are very few price reductions in that period. The best quality homes at attractive prices sell first. By late October, the total number of listings on the market starts to decline, and price reductions become common.

It's also the last rush of sales before things slow down for the holidays. There's also a chance that interest rates will be higher next year. That would bring home prices down.

A lot of people were jumping in with their rundown old houses asking rediculous (lose your ass) prices and I'm seeing them all revise as of late. This was seen mostly in rural areas--Im looking for a farm.

I saw quite a few houses that sold a few years prior for much lower prices. The disparity in estimated values and previous sales versus the list price was astronomical in most cases. The banks will happily give you a loan for whatever price so there is no check on the runaway prices except for your own personal knowledge of the historical market demand in an area.

I'm not sure I follow your logic; if you're concerned with buying a house now, then prices from years ago are irrelevant. You can speculate that prices have risen too quickly and that they'll revert back to their earlier level, but that's ultimately just speculation. Comparable sale prices from the past few months are the thing to look at, to determine an offer that's likely to be accepted.

One thing to keep in mind about list prices: if the sellers do a good job of estimating the current market price, then the house will sell quickly. If you're checking listings infrequently, there's going to be some sampling bias in the listings you see; overpriced houses that aren't selling will be disproportionately represented in active listings.