The sales picture in Maryland deteriorated over the course of the year, the NAR data show. ... Still, during the third quarter, all the state's metro areas surveyed, except Hagerstown/Martinsburg, W.Va., reported an increase in the median sale price of existing single-family homes.

Later in the story, McCandlish quotes Marc Witman, a partner with Yerman Witman Gaines & Garceau Realty, who "said home prices should drop by early next year to counter the plunge in sales."

"There's a disconnect between sellers and the buyers' expectations," said Witman, a Baltimore County-based Realtor. "Until the sellers come down with their pricing, the buyers aren't going to jump off the bench."