A report from the San Francisco Chronicle in California. "San Francisco’s pandemic-battered condo market bounced back with a vengeance this spring, scoring its busiest three-month period in at least 16 years as vaccinated buyers rushed back into the city to take advantage of pricing that is still significantly below its 2018 highs, according to a new report from the brokerage Compass. High-rise condo prices are down 9.1% from pre-pandemic highs, while mid-rise units are down 9.6% and low-rise homes are 5.2% below what they were."

The North Bay Business Journal in California. "Construction restarted in late May on the Napa Creek Village project after work halted on the 48-unit 'eco-village' housing development last year amid lawsuits and foreclosure. The new owner, Los Angeles-based OSM Investment Company, purchased the 2.5-acre property at 2614 First St., in a trustee’s sale in January, it was announced."

"Disputes between former project developers Thriving Communities and Healthy Buildings Companies and construction lender Amalgamated Bank led to the foreclosure to satisfy $11.9 million in claims, the Napa Valley Register reported early this year. 'The project is about two-thirds finished from what we can tell,' R.D. Olson Construction President Bill Wilhelm told the Business Journal."

From National Mortgage Professional. "The housing market is showing signs of a cool down, according to Redfin. The company reported that both pending sales and asking prices either declined or flatted in the four weeks ending May 30. 'The housing market was going 100 miles per hour and now it's down to 80,' said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. 'This is not the bursting of a bubble. Rather, it's a sign that consumers might rather spend their time and money on other things besides housing now that travel, dining and entertainment are resuming in full force.'"

"'There are some signs that buyers may be pulling back,' said Seattle Redfin real estate agent Alysan Long. 'Homes are staying on the market past the date the sellers had planned to review offers and other homes are being listed without an offer review date, neither of which was happening earlier this spring. We're increasingly seeing homes only get one offer, and even homes that are still getting multiple offers are receiving fewer offers than they would have a few weeks ago.'"

From Mansion Global on Texas. "Allie Beth Allman has been on the Dallas real estate scene for more than 35 years. MG: What about inventory? Is Dallas experiencing a shortage? ABA: On the upper end, there’s a lot of inventory. We’re not lacking in $4 million-and-up properties. You get down to the $500,000 houses, yes. There’s no inventory."

"MG: What are your predictions for the market for the rest of 2021? ABA: I think it's going to be strong. I can feel a little bit of a slowdown. What’s happening is people are saying, 'well, I'll put my house on the market if I can get this price,' which is a price that they never dreamed they would get. And the buyers are finally saying, 'look, this can't keep going like this; I'm not going to pay it. I'm going to wait it out.' If sellers are realistic and pricing homes at what the current value is, they are still selling."

From Western Investor. "A recent survey of Canadian homebuyers showing that more than half say they are now priced out of their local market, combined with a sudden drop in homebuilding, could be signals of a looming downturn in the housing market, experts contend. Housing bubbles have been a leading indicator in 11 of the 14 economic recessions since 1929, notes a Nobel laureate and economist and, he says, a slowdown in residential construction is a consistent early signal."

"Early in 2006, starts of U.S. housing suddenly began falling from record highs while all other economic indicators were still increasing, Vernon L. Smith noted. A year later, home construction had virtually stopped, U.S. home equity had shed $500 billion in value and the world was in the grip of the worst economic crisis in 100 years."

"In April, 2021, despite a roaring housing market, the total value of residential building permits issued in Canada pulled back from a peak in March, led by double-digit declines in British Columbia and Quebec, according to Statistics Canada. More than $7.7 billion in residential permits were issued nationally in April, down 6.7 per cent from a record high of more than $8 billion in March. Month-over-month declines in B.C., down 23.7 per cent, and Quebec, where permits fell nearly 15 per cent, contributed most to the downturn."

"The sudden slump in residential permits coincides with a new Canada-wide survey that shows more than half of Canadian homebuyers believe home prices have now soared beyond their reach. The Point2Homes survey, released June 7, found that while 38 per cent of respondents want to buy a home, 44 per cent did not know when they could actually do so. More than half (53 per cent) stated that they couldn’t keep up with the fast-changing price tags."

"Smith cautioned that a huge inflow of mortgage credit started the last housing bubble and he sees parallels today in low-cost mortgage money."

From Stuff New Zealand. "As another series of The Block NZ begins next Monday, June 14, it appears there is no guarantee buyers will get a good investment – the Block penthouse in Kingsland dropped nearly $100,000 in a year. Sophia and Mikaere Gardiner’s penthouse on The Block NZ: Firehouse sold a few days after the live auction in September 2019, for $1.6 million (a fraction less than the reserve), so they did not walk away with a profit."

"A little over a year later, the penthouse could only fetch $1.515 million when it sold in October 2020. In that same period Auckland house prices skyrocketed 16.3 per cent, and the national median rose nearly 20 per cent (REINZ figures). On that basis one might have expected the penthouse to fetch $1.856 million."

"The penthouse had been on the market for a considerable period – at once stage it was listed at $1.68 million. It was relaunched with a new agency, Bayleys Ponsonby. Listing agent Jono King says he sold the property within four days of putting it on the market. King says he could see no reason for the price drop: 'It was a nice apartment, with beautiful views.'"