The long, hot summer for home buying is finally cooling down, and buyers should breathe a sigh of relief. After months of steadily rising prices, bidding wars, and offers over asking, existing-home prices are continuing to fall.

Prices hit a median $245,100 in September, sliding nearly 3.2% from August, according to the most recent National Association of Realtors® report. But prices for these previously lived-in abodes were still up 4.2% from a year ago.

Indeed, there were about 23% fewer existing homes listed at $250,000 and under in September than there were a year earlier, according to the report. However, there were 28.2% more in the $500,000-and-up price range.

On the plus side for cash-strapped buyers is that existing homes are still cheaper than newly built residences—by nearly 22.5%. The median price of a newly constructed home was $300,200 in August, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Existing-home sales nudged up 0.7% from August to September—but they were down 1.5% annually, according to the seasonally adjusted numbers in the report. That means they have been smoothed out over 12 months to account for seasonal fluctuations in the market.

That could be a challenge for many renters and homeowners, as the nation's most expensive homes are in the West, with a median price of $362,700. That's down 3.3% from August, but up 5% from September 2016. Monthly sales were up 3.3%, but flat annually.

In the Northeast, prices also dipped 3.9% from August to September, to reach $274,100. But they were up 4.8% year over year. Sales were the same in both August and September, but down 1.4% from the previous September.

Monthly prices fell nearly 2.6% in the South, to hit $215,100, but were up 4.6% annually. The number of sales dropped 0.9% month over month and tumbled 2.3% year over year. In the Midwest, median prices fell 2.9% from August, to reach $195,800, but rose 5.4% from last year. Monthly sales were up 1.6%, but down 1.5% annually.