Uptown Market Report.

September closed slower and turned over faster. Twenty-two properties closed, down 26.7% from August, and the median sold price came in at $472,500, 14.7% below the month before. But the median days on market fell to 22, and closed sales landed at 96.68% of list price on average. What sold, sold efficiently. There just was not as much of it.

The pipeline tells the rest of the story. New listings jumped 22.6% to 76 properties, and total list volume climbed 51.2% to $56.95 million. Pending activity pulled back 30%, with 21 properties entering pending, though the median list price of those pendings rose 7.7% to $599,000. At month end, 23 properties sat under contract at a median list price of $599,000.

The report still classifies Uptown as a seller's market, but the cushion is thinner than it was a year ago. Months of supply rose 10.2% from August to 6.57, even as it stayed 8.4% below where it stood 12 months earlier. Inventory is up, prices have flattened, and the buyer who knows what a building is actually worth has real room to work.

The takeaway: buyers, there is more to look at and less competition at the close. Sellers, price on the evidence rather than the peak, and the numbers still break your way.