I didn't really want to admit that things were changing, though in truth it was really hard to tell. I had just moved to a new Real Estate company. We were in a small temporary office, so many of my work mates were choosing to work at home. I didn't have good contact with other agents, so I couldn't tell if anyone else was feeling what I was feeling. Was my anxiety because of my new situation, or was it because of a change in the market.
It became clear in just a few months. That anxiety grew into dread as I started to do less and less business. Now we look back and say the market changed because of the state of the lending and sub primes, but I honestly feel, in Berkeley, it was also fed by the anger of buyers. For 8 years they had been beat up by the Real Estate market. Sellers who were asking for more and more for their properties. Multiple offer situations where you could see over 20 offers on a house. Properties going for $150k over asking. No inspection contingencies, no protection. Buyers were just being smashed and disrespected.
I think the environment had become toxic, and finally, seemingly en mass, they all said enough.