A report from the Buffalo News in New York. "When Brett Barrett's husband got a surgical residency in Buffalo, the couple left Chicago for the Colvin Estates neighborhood of North Buffalo. They closed in May on their new $369,000 Marrano home and moved in about a month later, confident they wouldn't have to do a lot of work on it. But as happy as they are with their three-bedroom home, they are dismayed that Marrano hasn't completed the exterior of the 1,800-square-foot house, including the paint job."

"Barrett said he understands that the rainy spring and early summer were a factor in the initial delays. But he and his neighbors are concerned about safety, and they can't understand why the work hasn't been completed yet, since the weather has turned drier since July. 'It's just been hard for people, and while we understood the weather, what's the excuse now?' he asked."

From The Denver Channel in Colorado. "Construction continues at a fast pace at Harvest Junction, a new housing development in Longmont. The Hamilton's moved into their home about three weeks ago, but it was only a few days ago they found out they're living next to the future site of a gravel mine."

"'We know that there are mining and fracking, and you see it, but we didn't expect it to be this close to housing,' Sarah Hamilton said. 'I do have some remorse.'"

The Dallas Morning News in Texas. "Sales of high-density housing in Dallas-Fort Worth have sagged this year and purchases of condos and townhouses around the state are down, too. Condo sales in the D-FW area by real estate agents were down 10.5% in the year ending in June compared with the previous 12 months, according to a new report by the Texas Realtors association. And D-FW townhouse purchases fell by 7.2% in the same period, according to the Realtors."

"'Although condominium and townhome sales experienced slight decreases across the major Texas markets, the increase in inventory statewide is a strong indicator of developer demand to build upwards in not only urban areas but some suburban areas as well,' Dr. James Gaines, chief economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, said in the report."

From The Oregonian. "July brought some zip to a Portland area housing market that had been in the doldrums relative to the past few years, but the rally might prove short-lived. Accepted offers dropped compared with the year prior, suggesting August’s numbers for closed sales might disappoint."

"The year’s slowdown, said Matthew Gardner, chief economist for Windermere Real Estate, is part of a gradual return to a more normal market after a few frenetic years where home prices climbed by double-digit percentages annually — far in excess of wage growth. 'We’re recovering from a market that was going mad,' Gardner said. 'We kind of got used to that being the new normal, but it’s not normal. A lot of buyers have never seen a normal market.'"

The Monterey Herald in California. "Even with interest rates remaining low, sales of existing single-family homes in June dropped 18.1% in Monterey County compared to last year. Monterey County’s drop in home sales is second only to San Francisco’s at 21%."

"'It’s a buyers’ market,” said Scott Dick, government affairs director with the Monterey County Association of Realtors. 'Buyers are taking more time to watch prices which may explain some of the slowdown and ellers are learning to aggressively price their homes if they want them to sell faster.'"

"'Our office is focused on the luxury home markets of Carmel, Pebble Beach and the surrounding area so specific to those markets, currency control is one factor that has influenced foreign purchases in our area but it’s not specific to the Chinese. As a result, the luxury market is not as competitive but remains strong with interest shifting more to U.S. buyers who are taking advantage of the opportunity,' said Braden Sterling, managing director of The Agency in Carmel."

The Tampa Bay Times in Florida. "The Tampa Bay area has a higher percentage of 'zombies' — vacant houses in foreclosure — than the nation as a whole. Pinellas leads the bay area with nearly 9 percent of its foreclosures classified as zombies, followed by Pasco at 7.2 percent, Hillsborough at 3.8 percent and Hernando at 1.9 percent. For the bay area overall, the zombie rate is lmost 6 percent compared to 3.2 percent nationally, according to ATTOM Data Solutions."

"'A handful of areas still face notable problems with homes abandoned by owners after they get hit with foreclosure claims,' said Todd Teta, ATTOM's chief product officer."

From Multi-Housing News. "Although we have been seeing signs over the past couple of years of a slowdown in construction starts for multifamily projects in hot coastal markets, over the past six months this trend has noticeably escalated to the point where a growing number of developers just can’t make a project work financially."

"As a recent example, I have done a dozen or so construction loans over the years with a very experienced and successful multifamily developer. This developer had to make the decision to walk away from a fully designed and entitled, 200-unit Los Angeles area project. Now, they are trying the sell the parcel, but new prospective buyer/developers can’t make it work for their purposes either. It is an unfortunate situation that is a problem for a growing number of developers."

"Ultimately, land prices will need to come down in the coastal markets in order for projects to pencil favorably for developers again. Land sellers will have to lower their expectations on asking prices in order for a transaction to occur. In the meantime, developers looking to survive will seek out locations where they are confident of projected returns."

From Sparefoot. "The Austin, TX, offices of the parent company of Great Value Storage LLC, one of the largest self-storage owners and operators in the U.S., were raided Aug. 14 by agents with the FBI and U.S. Treasury Department, according to media reports. The Austin Business Journal and Austin TV station KXAN reported the downtown Austin headquarters of the parent company, commercial real estate investment firm World Class Capital Group LLC, were searched. According to the Austin American-Statesman, agents with the Treasury Department also were spotted at the company’s headquarters. In addition, FBI agents visited the recently vacated Austin headquarters of World Class Capital, the media outlets reported."

"Great Value Storage, founded in 2008, is a wholly owned subsidiary of World Class Capital, which entrepreneur Nate Paul launched in 2007. World Class Capital invests in and develops various types of commercial real estate, including self-storage facilities, office buildings, retail centers and student housing projects."

"Paul, who’s 32 years old, controls a $1 billion real estate portfolio in 17 states, according to his biography on the website of the All American Speakers Bureau. A 2017 article published by Forbes.com indicated Paul’s organization owned assets worth $1.2 billion and estimated his net worth at $800 million."

"During its 11 years in business, the Great Value Storage brand has expanded rapidly via development and acquisition activity. In February, for instance, news surfaced that World Class Capital had secured a $29.6 million construction loan for development of a roughly 188,600-square-foot storage facility on a 2.4-acre site in Los Angeles. The facility is supposed to feature 2,036 storage units and 53 covered parking spaces. World Class Capital purportedly has developed or plans to develop more than 1 million square feet of storage space in the Los Angeles market."