A report from National Mortgage Professional. "Close to 70% of home sellers are willing to accept a lower purchase price just to reach the closing point, according to a new LendingTree survey. This comes as the coronavirus has made it difficult for folks to sell their homes and those who are most willing to take a cut happens to be millennials. When asked what their biggest fears were when it comes to selling during the pandemic period, 33% said they were afraid they would have to accept a lower offer price. Another 33% are fearful that they won't be able to sell their home within the time frame they hoped."

"'Although it may seem like the housing market has shrugged off COVID-19, as home sales show signs of recovering, it may prove a false dawn,' said Tendayi Kapfidze, LendingTree’s chief economist. 'The detrimental impact on jobs and, by extension, wages, will be significant and long-lasting. Demand will soften in the housing market, and sellers will likely need to make some concessions to reach the signing table.'"

From Realtor.com on Florida. "Each year, tens of millions of people arrive from all over the world to visit Orlando, FL. But this year, of course, is very different. Tourism in the Orlando region, America's top tourism and vacation spot, ground to a standstill. 'The biggest Impact I see when it comes to the tourism and economy is unemployment,' says Joe Johnson, president of the Osceola County Association of Realtors. The loss of jobs portends far-reaching economic impacts on the Orlando area, including the real estate market."

"Johnson says one of the biggest problems plaguing the Orlando area housing market is inventory. 'We’re in a seller’s market—there’s a major shortage of inventory in Central Florida,' he says. However, one segment of the housing market has struggled: The luxury market is in retreat, faring much worse than average homes. The $1 million-plus housing market has seen the steepest decline in sales, Johnson says. 'There’s a major oversupply' in that part of the market."

The Wall Street Journal on New York. "In 2014 a nearly 6,000-square-foot penthouse spanning the top floor of the luxury Manhattan condominium Walker Tower sold for $50.9 million, making it the priciest apartment ever sold downtown at the time. A few weeks ago, the same unit went into contract for just $18.25 million, according to people familiar with the situation."

"Now a battle is brewing over the property, which the U.S. Department of Justice is selling after seizing it as part of a civil forfeiture action related to the Malaysian 1MDB corruption scandal. 'We’re all scratching our heads saying, ‘How did this happen?’ said Vickey Barron, a resident of the building and a real-estate agent with Compass. 'What we’re talking about is almost 70% discount. It’s almost like a sample sale. Walker Tower is not a sample sale.'"

The Chicago Tribune in Illinois. "After $11 million in price cuts, a 10-bedroom, 12,000-square-foot French chateau-inspired mansion in the Gold Coast has a buyer. The International College of Surgeons long has been trying to sell its prominent four-story mansion at 1516 N. Lake Shore Drive. The college first had sought $17 million for the mansion in 2015, but over the past five years has become increasingly aggressive in its pricing, making its final price cut to its current $6 million asking price in August 2019."

"On Monday, the mansion went under contract, according to real estate listing information. The amount the buyer will pay is not yet known, as the deal still needs to close."

The San Francisco Public Press in California. "Construction sites are coming back to life throughout San Francisco, but the surge in activity may not last long. While older projects are being revived, new projects could struggle to break ground this year due to the uncertainty the pandemic has brought to the real estate market. Residential property owners may delay construction because of concerns they won’t be able to afford it if tenants don’t pay rent."

"Banks face similar uncertainty, which could stall larger construction projects, said David Garcia, policy director at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley. 'They’re dubious because they don’t know that the project is going to meet the financial assumptions that were in place pre-COVID,' he said."

"Garcia is skeptical the recent decline in rents will change market dynamics. 'I don’t think it’s going to be enough to solve our affordability issues,' he said. 'We were so far out of balance from what is considered a healthy housing market that a temporary dip in prices is not going to make housing affordable to the vast majority of people who were struggling.'"

The Wall Street Journal on California. "Rents in San Francisco, the most expensive apartment market in the U.S., are tumbling as the city’s vaunted tech sector sheds jobs and more tenants leave the city. The apartment vacancy rate in San Francisco rose to 6.2% in May, according to RealPage. That’s up from 3.9% only three months ago."

"San Francisco’s median rent in May for a one-bedroom apartment was also down 9.2% compared with a year ago at $3,360 a month, according to listings platform Zumper. The pandemic is upending San Francisco’s workforce more than in most cities, remaking part of its corporate landscape. Several large, high-paying companies, including Yelp Inc., and Lyft Inc., have begun laying off workers in the city. LendingClub reported to the California Employment Development Department earlier this month that it was permanently laying off 306 San Francisco employees."

"San Francisco-based startup Stitch Fix Inc., meanwhile, is looking to save costs by hiring or relocating staff to cheaper cities outside of California like Pittsburgh and Cleveland. PG&E Corp. said this month it plans to move to Oakland, ending more than 100 years in San Francisco. Other Bay Area businesses are allowing their employees to work from home indefinitely, making some San Franciscans question whether it still makes sense to pay exorbitant rents when they no longer have to live in the same city as their office."

"'This is a very unusual market,' said local real-estate agent Joanne Fazzino. 'Landlords can’t expect the same kind of rents they were expecting.'"

"San Francisco isn’t the only high-rent city brought back to earth. In Manhattan, the rental apartment vacancy rate is now at its highest point in at least 14 years, according to a report by real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller and brokerage Douglas Elliman. And RealPage found that for all of New York City, renters are signing leases at more than 8% off asking price on average."

"But Northern California is among the hardest hit. Rent cuts on new leases are 8% or more on average in both San Francisco and San Jose, RealPage said."

From Socket Site in California. "While the number of homes newly listed for sale in San Francisco having outpaced the number of purchase contracts that were inked for the ninth week in a row, there are now 1,050 homes listed for sale across the city. That’s not only a 9-year seasonal high but a new 9-year high in the absolute and 50 percent more inventory than at the same time last year, despite the fact that inventory levels typically don’t peak until October."

"And the percentage of listings which have undergone at least one official price reduction has been ticked up another two percentage points to 22 percent, which is five (5) percentage points higher than at the same time last year, for twice as many reduced listings on the market in the absolute on account of the jump in inventory levels."

From KXLY in Washington. "If you’re a homeowner struggling to pay your mortgage during this pandemic, a local non-profit is ready to help. SNAP Spokane received a $50,000 grant from Bank of America to go directly into its housing counseling program that helps hundreds of homeowners in our community. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit many homeowners hard. Some had to take forbearance on their mortgages to just get by. But when the forbearance period is up, what then?"

"'Foreclosures. Nationally, were down pre-pandemic. But they certainly never went down here in Spokane County. Trying to figure out how to get federal or HUD money to serve those clients was always a challenge,' said Karen Campbell, financial stability program coordinator at SNAP Spokane."