Spooky October for home buyers?

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October home sales and median price data for Southern California should be available by next week. Analysts and industry folks I’ve spoken with are wondering whether the Wall Street meltdown prompted many buyers to back out of deals in escrow, even if they had financing and were otherwise on track to close the deal.

I’ve gotten some anecdotal reports of this happening in other cities, but haven’t heard much from Southern California, where sales have been picking up amid falling prices. Was anyone out there involved in a home purchase that fell through in October because the buyer (maybe you?) got spooked by the financial crisis? Or can we expect another month of increased home sales?

I’m interested in hearing your stories from the front lines.

-- Peter Y. Hong