And the definitive answer is: maybe. To be more precise, it depends on whom you ask; and to be even more precise, it depends on the area you’re asking about.

While sales were up in August 2016 by 0.3 percent over 12 months ago, home sales increased 2.9 percent in Contra Costa County, but down 6.8 percent in Santa Clara County.

Prices continued to increase but at a much more moderate rate but, here too, there was signficiant fluctuation depending on the region. In Alameda County The median price was $734,000, up 7.2 percent from a year earlier, and $510,000 in Contra Costa County, up by just 0.1 percent from 2015. In San Mateo County, the median price of $1.2 million represented a 9.1 percent increase, while Santa Clara County’s median remained flat at $925,000.

Analysts agreed that a strong job market and low interest rates are being offset by affordability and continued constraints in the housing supply.

There’s a new trend in home buying: spend the night in the home before you make an offer on it.

According to real estate professionals, HGTV’s “Sleep On It” follows potential home-buyers as they spend the night in two homes – with the sellers’ approval, of course – before they decide which one to buy.

While they hasn’t exactly sparked a national trend, more and more potential buyers are requesting to “test out” a potential new home before buying. This can range from a sleep-over – to check out noisy neighbors, to taking a shower – presumably to test the water pressure, to cooking a simple meal – to test out the kitchen facilities.

Truly a sign of a buyers’ market…