A report from the Herald Tribune in Florida. "More Southwest Florida homeowners are struggling to pay their mortgages. The number of residential properties with a foreclosure filing rose 23% as of mid-year in the Sarasota-Manatee region, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. The local increase was not that unusual. Foreclosure starts were higher in four out of 10 metros across the country. Florida reported the third-longest average foreclosure timelines, from filing to completion, at 1,073 days. The national average was 716 days."

The Asbury Park Press in New Jersey. "Has Toms River's abandoned property registry helped encourage owners to fix dilapidated houses? In many cases, vacant houses are owned by banks that took title to the property through foreclosure but have not maintained it, said township Administrator Don Guardian."

"For guidance in setting up a registry, Toms River officials turned to towns that have already created a list of abandoned properties, including Montclair, Cherry Hill, Brick, Manchester, Upper Township, and of course, Atlantic City, where Guardian previously served as mayor. Those towns, like many others in New Jersey, have adopted abandoned property registries to deal with problem of 'zombie homes.'"

"Zombie homes are properties whose owners have walked away from them during the foreclosure process. With New Jersey's foreclosure process one of the longest in the nation — an average of 982 days — abandoned houses that are in foreclosure often aren't maintained. Grass becomes overgrown, roofs collapse and animals, such as raccoons, possums and even feral cats, can move in."

From The Day in Connecticut. "It's not like the residents at the Five Corners end of Benham Road want to be living in apartments that have yielded complaints to the health department over the past few years of bedbugs, broken windows, rats, crumbling stairs and black mold. But between fixed incomes and reliance on public transportation, moving somewhere else may not be an easy task."

"Foreclosure proceedings wrapped up on these properties in March, after owner John F. McDonald III — under the business name Real Estate Rescue Services LLC — failed to pay back a $377,000 mortgage loan, and after years of unpaid taxes to the town. 'It was a bad investment on my part,'" McDonald told The Day Friday. 'I had tenants that didn't want to pay the rent, so if they don't pay the rent, you don't have money.'"

"McDonald told The Day of his original decision to purchase the properties, 'I don't know, it looked like it might be a good deal and good piece of property to purchase, and didn't work out.'"

The Los Angeles Times in California. "To help fill its 648 apartments, Dobbins’ Hankey Investment Co. and its partners splurged on communal spaces such as a wine-tasting bar and a quiet library where shelves are filled with books arranged by the color of their covers. There are yoga and spin cycling classes for residents."

"As is growing more common in high-end residential buildings, the gym is lavishly appointed with the latest equipment and occupies its own glassed-in building on the plaza instead of being tucked in a windowless corner. Every day an attendant puts fresh washcloths scented with eucalyptus oil in a cold refrigerator for people who want to mop their brows while exercising."

"Because few can or want to pay such rents, owners of deluxe buildings turn to ever more swanky amenities to attract well-heeled tenants and keep them renewing their leases, said economist Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. 'New luxury stuff is having some trouble leasing up, so they have to compete with one another,' Green said. 'Their calculus is that it’s more profitable to compete on amenities than by cutting rents.'"

"Such attentive services including concierges are pushing Los Angeles into a realm previously associated with high-rise living in dense urban centers like New York and Chicago, said Los Angeles developer Walter N. Marks III . 'There is a ratcheting up because there is this race to get your place occupied,' Marks said. 'Maybe if you get it right and your amenities are really thoughtful and well planned, tenants will stay longer and not jump ship for the next shiny building.'"

From 48 Hills in California. "On Sunday afternoon, Excelsior residents and community-based organizations gathered to march, drum, chant, perform, and express their collective anger and distress over the rise of luxury development that has started to seize the largely immigrant and working-class neighborhood of the Excelsior."

"'We started at 5050 Mission Street because it’s the largest already-constructed housing development in the Excelsior,' said CUHJ program manager Jessie Fernandez. According to Fernandez, for months after the ChesHill apartment complex was completed, many of those units were vacant."

From Seattle Mag in Washington. "I’ll see your 360-degree-view rooftop barbecue pit and raise you a pet-washing station…and Tesla ride-sharing! Following in the footprint of a high-end apartment building boom, we are about to be spoiled with amenity-rich condominiums. And while it is fun to make fun of their ever-expanding amenity menus, this is a high-stakes business as more condos vie for the eyes (and wallets) of buyers."

"In the next few years, according to condo-marketing company Polaris Pacific, some 6,000 condos will open up in Seattle and Bellevue. Downtown Seattle alone is expected to welcome some 1,660 luxury condos by 2022. And all will be bringing those eye-popping perks."

"'The amenity war has really taken a strong hold in the apartment world and as a result of that, condos are now having to deliver a nicer, better product, because now we are trying to attract these apartment renters, who we want to turn into buyers,' says Josh Nasvik, Polaris Pacific vice president."

The Mail Tribune in Oregon. "Jackson County’s real estate market is looking good for buyers, according to recent numbers released by the Southern Oregon Multiple Listing Service. 'It’s still a great time for buyers,' said Colin Mullane with the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors. 'It’s actually, if anything, a better time than it’s been for several years.'"

"Mullane said greater competition — due to more new houses being on the market — is allowing buyers to take their time and potentially negotiate better prices from sellers. The median price for new homes fell slightly from this time last year: a loss of 2.1% from $347,450 to $340,163 in 2019. The number of houses on the market in Jackson County as of July 31 was 12% higher than the same time in 2018."