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Portland real estate activity slowed in July, with fewer homes sold and prices slipping.

The monthly data from RMLS, a real estate listing service for metro Portland, shows the first evidence of market cooling this year.

鈥淥ur prices went up so dramatically in such a short period of time 鈥� it’s almost frightening, because we don’t have the industry to support those kinds of numbers,鈥� said Deborah Dufresne, a RE/MAX broker and president of the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors.

鈥淲e’re not a large East Coast city, nor the Bay Area, nor Southern California,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he only thing that could naturally happen is we have a self-correction a little bit.鈥�

The median sale price of a Portland-area home fell 1.9 percent to $355,000, down from $362,000 in June.

Still, prices have risen so much in the past 12 months that July’s decline was slight. Compared to a year earlier, prices were still up by 11.6 percent.

Closed sales fell 12.1 percent from June, and 19.6 percent from 12 months previous, according to RMLS.

鈥淧residential election years are squirrelly,鈥� Dufresne said. 鈥淭his time of year, we tend to see things cool down.鈥�

Inventory grew slightly to 1.9 months 鈥� still indicating a strong seller’s market. Time on market declined to 32 days, down from 33 days in June and 45 days in July 2015.

Buyers are becoming more discerning, Dufresne said.

鈥淭hey’re much more willing to say, 鈥榃ait a minute; I don’t have to buy tomorrow’ 鈥� and that is not the sentiment we’ve had the last 15 months,鈥� she said.