A report from the Aspen Times in Colorado. "After owning a West End property for more than a decade, the city of Aspen is ready to unload a house that has served as a multimillion-dollar rental unit. The city put the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house located at 312 W. Hyman Ave. on the market in the spring. It was originally listed for $4.9 million with broker Andrew Ernemann, who represents the city in real estate holdings and works at Aspen Snowmass Sotheby's International."

"'That didn't gain traction,' Assistant City Manager Barry Crook said of the original asking price, so it was knocked down to $4.4 million this summer. Still not attracting a buyer, the city is now asking for $3.95 million."

From Seattle PI in Washington. "You may have heard Seattle is experiencing a cool down. Not so fast. The market is definitely slowing within the city (if not Thurston County), but that doesn't mean that prices have dipped all that much. The median closed sale price fell by about $45,000 from the month before, but it was still up $30,000 from the same time last year, according to the latest Northwest Multiple Listing Service report."

"Some good news is that condo prices are going through the same market-wide cool down as single-family homes: Active listings jumped nearly 58 percent, and closed transactions dropped off by about 15 percent. It's also not a sign of a pending bubble or rapid inflation, as far as brokers can tell."

"'Even with some doom and gloom about sales being down in many counties, inventory doubling in some areas, and appreciation holding at around 8 percent for the year, our market is still very healthy and recovering from the depleted inventory of the past three years,' said George Moorhead, designated broker, Bentley Properties, Bothell."

The Santa Cruz Sentinel in California. "Mom-and-pop landlords were among those appealing to the Santa Cruz City Council this week seeking an alternative to Measure M. The sellers of a three-bedroom house at 119 Chrystal Terrace in Santa Cruz, which was a rental, listed it for $1.125 million in March."

"One deal fell through and after the price was dropped three times, the home sold this month for $930,000."