A report from the Seattle Times in Washington. "Since the local market peaked last spring, single-family home prices have fallen twice as fast in the Seattle metro area as in any other region in the country, according to the monthly Case-Shiller home-price index.The total drop for the full metro area in that span totals 6 percent, after falling another 0.3 percent in January from the month before."

"The current median cost of a single-family house is $655,000 in King County, $475,000 in Snohomish County and $355,000 in Pierce County. The Pierce County figure is tied for a record high, while King and Snohomish are well below their peaks reached last spring."

From Reuters. "U.S. homebuilding fell more than expected in February as construction of single-family homes dropped to near a two-year low, offering more evidence of a sharp slowdown in economic activity early in the year. 'The sugar high is just about over,' said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors. 'The risks are more toward the downside than the upside.'"

From WTOP in Virginia. "A historic home for sale in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, built in 1795 that served as the boyhood home of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee just had a big price cut. Originally listed for $8.5 million in April 2018, the listing price has been reduced to $6.25 million."

The New York Times. "Clayton Morris walked away from his job as a Fox News host in 2017 to devote himself to the next phase of his professional life: helping regular people achieve financial independence. Their plan was to connect mom-and-pop investors with turnkey investment homes in Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Fla., and several other cities. All clients had to do was put up the cash and wait for the checks to arrive."

"Nearly two dozen customers are now suing Mr. Morris and his company. They contend that the properties were in worse shape than advertised, and that rehab work paid for upfront was done poorly or not at all. Vacant lots sold on the expectation of new homes being built are strewn with trash. One house gutted by fire was sold a few days later to an unwitting investor, according to a lawsuit."

"'He comes across as this nice, likable family guy,” said Brian Freeman, a California lawyer who plunked down about $40,000 for a ramshackle home that was in such bad shape he was issued fines. 'He’s famous and I thought, ‘He’s not going to ruin his entire reputation.’ Obviously, in hindsight, I feel like such an idiot.'"

The Times-Herald in California. "Nearly two-thirds of Bay Area residents say the quality of life here has gotten worse in the last five years, according to a new poll. Diego Vela, a software engineer, commutes from Dublin to his office in San Francisco on BART. Some days it takes as long as 90 minutes to come and go from work. It’s time spent away from his wife and infant daughter, and he hates it."

"Vela, 30, has a good salary that could be the envy of friends and family back home in Texas. But then he explains to outsiders the high cost of living in California. 'It looks nice,' he said, 'until you factor in reality.'"

The Wall Street Journal on Arizona. "Across the country, the housing market overall has slowed. But in the regions just beyond the affluent suburbs, new home building and sales are showing signs of life. Rising mortgage rates and home prices, especially in urban centers, are once again motivating buyers to drive until they can afford a home, including in Dallas, Las Vegas, Atlanta and the San Francisco Bay Area. Low gas prices help as well. Last year, Maricopa, Arizona issued permits for nearly 1,000 new homes. In the depths of the housing downturn, in 2010, it issued just 110."

"Buyers are 'having to drive further from the city center in order to be able to afford a house,' said Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae."

"Josh Bush and Danielle Rhee were drawn to Maricopa from Portland, Ore., for the housing prices. They bought a $250,000 six-bedroom home there last year—less than it would have cost them to get two bedrooms in Oregon, said Mr. Bush, who is 29 years old."

"Mr. Bush, who designs fire sprinkler systems, leaves for his job in Phoenix before 6 a.m. each morning to keep his commute to about 50 minutes. The drive can take two hours if he hits traffic. He considers the trade-off worthwhile. 'If you move into town, you’re going to spend your entire salary paying for a house,' he said."

"Compared with the last boom, builders and lenders say new communities aren’t reliant on subprime mortgages and speculative investment. Buyers are more often using loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration that require only a 3.5% down payment and a minimum credit score of 580, or Department of Veterans Affairs or U.S. Department of Agriculture loans that require no down payment."

"Jordan Rose, an attorney who represents many developers and home builders in the area, said during the last boom, she used to work in her car using a portable modem because she didn’t have time to make it back to the office between zoning meetings."

"She is even busier now. 'It feels like 2006 without the fake high at the end of the rainbow,' she said. 'There’s the same exuberance, but the buyer is real.'"