A report from KGW 8 on Oregon. "For the first time in seven years Portland home prices have gone down, according to new numbers from Regional Multiple Listing Service. The apartment building boom has left many units vacant across the metro area. Now, owners are giving incentives for people to move in. We've seen landlords offering free rent for three months, free parking spots, free furniture."

"In the case of the TwentyTwenty building, developer Patrick Kessi of PHK Development says the market's cooled so much, he's offering up to a $100,000 price cut to get these sold over the next few weeks. 'So the flash sale is 15-20 percent off, and it's on a select 10 homes. So, the starting price is in the 200-thousands for a one-bedroom urban apartment, which is a great price. And it's discounted into the $500,000 for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo,' Kessi told KGW."

"Portland's biggest influx are still Californians. Many tech companies are creating small hubs here, and Portland is a short plane ride away. But many of them are coming up with families and want to buy a house, not an apartment. Real estate professor Gerard Mildner says we need to expand the urban growth boundary in the suburbs to get enough land for new homes."

"'The Californians are coming, the question is do we accommodate them or not? If we don't build the subdivisions they're looking for, then they'll heat up the markets in the inner city like they have been doing for the last 10 years,' Mildner said. 'We're living in a constrained world and constrained supply. We've got urban reserves, we should bring those out given the housing emergency.'"

"Mildner says home prices will keep going up for the next several decades."

The Dallas Morning News. "All of the economists who are meeting with builders from around the country this week say they see growing signs of a recession — but probably not this year."

"'In June, this will be the longest expansion in U.S. history,' said David Berson, chief economist with Nationwide Mutual Insurance. 'We think it will last considerably longer as well. Although the risks of the expansion ending have gone up.'"

"'There are lots of concerns that are bubbling up right now,' Berson said. 'The expansion won't go on forever. Once the recession hits — as with all recessions — there will be a hit for housing demand.'"

"Unlike in previous economic cycles, there's no glut in the new-home market. 'There has been no overbuilding, at least on a national basis,' Berson said. 'Even regionally there is no evidence of overbuilding.'"

The Los Feliz Ledger in California. "After two previous campaign finance reform motions by Los Angeles City Councilmember David Ryu fizzled, a third may succeed, as the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission voted today to ban donations to political candidates and officeholders from all non-individuals and from real estate developers and their associates."

"Today’s hearing and votes–all unanimous from the 4-person board–come amid an FBI corruption probe of city hall and multiple media reports alleging city officials may have traded political favors for donations–either to the officials themselves, or to charitable causes they support."

"A speaker said the city’s current crises, a lack of affordable housing, epidemic homelessness and perceived corruption by local officials are inter-related. At the same time, the speaker said, 'we have a luxury housing glut.'"

From Crain's Chicago Business in Illinois. "If you're buying a home this year, you'll have less time to nitpick about its out-of-date looks than you used to, thanks to revisions in the contract for Chicago-area home sales."

"Prompted by a spate of buyers and real estate lawyers who were misusing the time allotted for negotiating over flaws that a home inspector finds—the time to ask for roof repairs, boiler replacements and other substantial repairs—the contract revisions clarify that after the inspection is not the time to request that old wallpaper be replaced or moldy window treatments cleaned."

"The aim of the changes was not to take away buyers' opportunity to have the seller make cosmetic changes, but to clarify that there's a time for that: when submitting an offer on the property, say two people who were on the committee of about two dozen who revised the Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract. The contract has been rolling out in recent weeks and becomes the standard March 1."

"In the past few years, 'buyers have gotten a little out of hand asking for cosmetic changes,' said Lynn Madison, a real estate trainer and past president of the suburban Mainstreet Organization of Realtors. 'They're watching all these HGTV shows, and they think the house has to look perfect.'"

"'They know it's been a buyer's market, hard to get a home sold,' she said, 'so they think they can demand anything. And if they're millennials, a lot of them have so much debt that they can't afford to spend more on repairs, so they ask the seller to do it.'"

"Along with millennials who are overloaded with student loans, move-up buyers may have such a small cashout from their old address that they, too, have little to spend after the purchase."

From Mansion Global. "'Things are looking good for buyers in 2019,' Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather said in the report. 'The supply of homes for sale is increasing faster than it has in nearly four years.'"

"Despite a national increase in home prices, 10 of the 81 metro areas Redfin tracks suffered a decline, including Portland, Oregon, down 1.3%, and San Francisco, down 5%. Neither of these cities have faced a significant price drop since 2012, and both experienced consistent growth throughout most of last year."

"'We predicted price growth would slow down and that prices would drop in coastal cities like San Francisco and Seattle, but we didn’t know how sellers would react to a cooler market,' Mr. Fairweather said. 'It’s encouraging to see that listings are up—it means that sellers aren’t taking the ball and going home.'"

"San Francisco’s median sale price dropped to $1.235 million from $1.3 million, but just under half of its homes sold above list price. The number of houses sold remained down for the sixth consecutive month, falling in 57 of Redfin’s 81 metro areas and 7.6% nationally from January 2018."

"This decline in sales is reflected in several of the U.S.’ larger metropolitan areas. Year over year, Philadelphia fell 34.3%, West Palm Beach, Florida, fell 26.2%, Chicago dropped 25.5% and Los Angeles was down 16.4%. The biggest growth in inventory occurred in Seattle, with a 109.1% annual increase, and San Jose, California, which rose 100.8%."