A report from Arlington Now in Virginia. "We’re seeing some significantly discounted homes for this week’s edition of Just Reduced, including a couple options reduced more than $100,000. It looks like some homeowners are starting their spring cleaning a bit early and are looking to sell quickly."

A press release in Massachusetts. "A recent study by Sequel Residential of the residential real estate market for Newton and Brookline, MA reveals selling prices remained stable despite a sharp decline in the volume of home and condo sales over the past 3 months versus the same period last year, amidst substantial recent increases in listing inventory."

"According to Jonathan Slater, President of Sequel Residential, we’re in a 'slightly favorable' buyers market, pointing to an increase in the percentage of listings that underwent price reductions (7.1% to 11.8%)."

"'Some sellers misread the signals, especially the increase in inventory that has been occurring, and over-priced their original listings, leading to increased price reductions, but things are still moving,' Slater says. 'In general, buyers who are waiting for prices to drop significantly are getting shut out. There are just too many ready, willing, and capable buyers out there,' he adds."

"'Last year during this period, buyers felt a greater sense of urgency. This year, buyers are more relaxed about timing,' Slater explains. 'For buyers, the strategy of trying to wait things out clearly hasn't been working, and interest rates are predicted to go back up... so, home ownership is likely to get more expensive,' he says. For sellers, Slater advises that there's too much uncertainty to wait any longer than necessary. 'We have a reasonable market right now. I can't predict the future,' he adds."

From The Hill on New York. "The New York state charges that Vance filed against Paul Manafort appear to run afoul of state and federal protections against double jeopardy, or being prosecuted twice for the same underlying conduct."

"The timing of the charges alone seemed right out of the playbook of 'The Producers' character Max Bialystock, the corrupt Broadway figure ' who insisted that ' in New York the rule is 'if you got it, flaunt it, flaunt it.' Accordingly, Vance waited just minutes after the Manafort sentencing to hit him with state charges, guaranteeing the maximum exposure and credit for his effort."

"The problem is that the case appears not only constitutionally flawed but ethically challenged, coming right out of the Max Bialystock School of Prosecution."

"When I read the complaint against Manafort, I was struck not only by the overlap but the overkill. I had never seen the Manhattan district attorney bring such a case, but I could be mistaken. After all, Vance proclaimed he had a sacred duty to protect the 'integrity of our residential mortgage market.' That was news in itself. The core allegation was that Manafort lied about a condo being used as a home by his family, as opposed to a rental property."

"If that type of misrepresentation were truly prosecuted with vigor, New York would be a ghost town. In the land of rent controlled apartments, fraudulent practices are the norm. Indeed, Aaron Carr of the Housing Rights Initiative, a nonprofit housing watchdog group, declared recently that in New York 'rent fraud is like finding rain in a rain storm.'"