Will the long-awaited sellers’ market be extraordinarily short-lived? An email survey of big market agents found that the pendulum is shifting in favor of buyers.

An August survey of 522 Redfin agents found that fewer believe this to be a good time to sell than in the second quarter and more than half, 55 percent, said it is “a good time to buy,” up from 46% in the first quarter.

Inventory shortages (87%) and bidding wars (79%) remain the biggest challenges for buyers, according to the agent survey. Some 62% of agents say that sellers have unrealistic expectations about the value of their home and 30% say that sellers are having difficulties getting their home to appraise for the contract purchase amount.

Markets are cooling down. Some 56% of agents believe the market over the last three months has become less competitive. Only 22% believe it has become more competitive.

Price expectations are changing dramatically. Most (68%) expect price gains in the coming months but fewer than in the in the first quarter (97%). Only five percent expect home prices to “rise a lot,” down from 44% in the first quarter.

“At the end of this summer, you could smell the rubber on the road from buyers hitting the breaks,” said Redfin San Diego agent Sara Fischer. “The cutthroat competition and frenzied demand has relaxed considerably.”

Respondents spanned 22 metropolitan markets in the U.S.: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Orange County, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC.