A report from the Coeur d'Alene Press in Idaho. "'In every year since 2013, home prices in Kootenai County have grown significantly faster than wages,' said Samuel Wolkenhauer, Region 1 economist for the Idaho Department of Labor. 'It’s important to remember that these growth rates compound on each other, which means the gap is growing exponentially.'"

"'The chances of prices leveling off or going down anytime soon — or ever — are slim to none. They won’t go down because people keep moving into this area,' said longtime Coeur d’Alene Realtor Marshall Mend. 'Why would home prices go down when people are lining up to buy? It’s supply and demand.'"

From The Advocate in Louisiana. "In the first six months of 2019, prices held flat or in some cases fell in what were recently the city’s highest-demand neighborhoods, including parts of Uptown, the Central Business District, Mid-City and downriver areas like Bywater. 'We are in the long tail of a 10-year recovery cycle,' said Paul Richard, an executive at Latter & Blum, noting that the theme of last year's annual real estate forecasting conference in New Orleans was a question: 'Are we at a market peak or a new base line?'"

"In Orleans Parish, the 70130 area that includes the Lower Garden District, the CBD and part of the French Quarter is the priciest at $286 per square foot, even after it dropped more than 4% in the past year."

The Wall Street Journal on New York. "In June, sales of luxury residential real estate soared like a Midtown skyscraper as buyers rushed to beat a looming July 1 tax increase. In July, they plummeted back to earth to the slowest pace in years, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. It was the slowest pace for such sales in the month of July since 2009."

"The median sale price of a Manhattan apartment fell to $970,000, the lowest level in four years. That was down 40% from the figure in June, which was pushed up by the many high-end sales. 'The crisis seems to be going sideways,' said Donna Olshan, a broker who tracks the luxury market. Sellers who lower their prices are doing deals, she said, while other listings sit on the market. Many condo developers aren’t lowering prices, but they are telling brokers to 'just make me an offer,' she said."

The Bay Area Newsgroup in California. "Permits for residential construction in California fell 16 percent in 2018-19 from the previous 12-month cycle, according to an analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California. Permits dropped nearly 50 percent in San Mateo County, 30 percent in Alameda County, almost 10 percent in Santa Clara County and 7 percent in Contra Costa County."

"'It’s certainly not lack of demand,' said Paul Campos of the Bay Area Building Industry Association."

The San Francisco Chronicle in California. "If you’ve always wanted to own a penthouse in the sky — and who hasn’t — you’ll have more to choose from in San Francisco as a slew of top-floor condos in new South of Market high-rises hit the market alongside a handful of older gems atop the city’s posh hilltop neighborhoods."

"The good news is, there’s no rush. Luxury penthouses take months, often years, to sell. The top floor of the Lumina’s Folsom Street tower has been for sale since 2015 when the building was under construction. It was originally listed as a single home for $40 million. In 2018, it was split into two units priced at roughly $11.5 million and $10.5 million. This summer the developer began offering a $1.55 million incentive on each unit to build out the empty shells."

"The Italian owners of a half-floor penthouse atop the Ritz-Carlton on Market Street spent five years transforming it into a glitzy modern-Italian showpiece, bringing in designers and craftsmen from Europe. But they never stayed there, and now it’s for sale at $9.9 million or $2,753 a square foot, said the listing agent. HOA dues are $3,700 a month. The other top-floor unit at the Ritz sold last year for $5.95 million or $1,964 a square foot."

The North Bay Business Journal in California. "Home sales jumped in the North Bay in July from a year before, although median sale prices dropped slightly, according to CoreLogic. The report found that home sales in the San Francisco Bay Area last month were the lowest for July since 2011, when 7,014 homes sold. Sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis for the past 12 consecutive months."

The Orange County Register in California. "Southern California home-price gains are quickly evaporating, no matter who’s doing the counting. This year’s falling mortgage rates gave house hunters more buying power. Instead, it appears buyers — unnerved by domestic and global economic uncertainty — are not willing to pay up. Reports published by CoreLogic, California Association of Realtors, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, S&P/Case-Shiller and the Real Estate Research Council of Southern California all tell the same tale."

From Mansion Global. "Former New York Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez has parted with his house in California’s Hollywood Hills. The Mid-Century Modern property has sold for $4.4 million in a deal that is expected to hit property records on Friday, Mansion Global has learned through a source."

"Mr. Rodriguez, 44, listed the Hollywood Hills home last November for $6.5 million, and the asking price was lowered to $5.25 million in March, Mansion Global previously reported. He purchased the home in 2014 from actress Meryl Streep and her husband for $4.8 million using a trust, according to PropertyShark records."